Colonies Forum Plans Debate Among Key Contestants

Hyderabad: The Jubilee Hills Electoral Colonies Forum, which represents a large number of colonies, welfare societies, basti committees and sports clubs, is set to play a decisive role in the by-elections on November 11.

The forum, which has members in 300 colonies in the constituency, said it would decide to support a candidate only after being persuaded through a ‘town hall’ type meeting. For the meeting held after the US elections, the forum is preparing to invite important candidates to the race.

Remaining apolitical, the forum had separately invited both Maganti Gopinath and Muhammad Azharuddin in the 2023 Assembly elections, was convinced by the arguments presented by Gopinath and subsequently supported him.

“Ahead of the by-election, the forum plans to bring together all colony associations and welfare committees to reach a collective decision on whom to support based solely on the candidate’s performance and integrity. From next week, we plan to invite Maganti Sunitha and Naveen Yadav and, if possible, BJP candidate Deepak Reddy to ask what kind of development they will bring and how they plan to solve civic issues,” Asif said. Hussain Sohail, president of Jubilee Hills Electoral Colonies Forum.

In the United States, when candidates answer public questions in a public setting, it is commonly known as a town hall meeting. This format allows candidates to directly engage with voters by answering questions from a live audience. These types of meetings showcase the candidate’s ability to connect with individual voters rather than rigid debate tactics. The essence of the speech stems from the concerns of the citizens attending the meeting.

“This could have provided a direct and structured comparison between the top two candidates on policy issues and their vision for the future. But at this point we are more focused on the town hall model. Maybe next time we will consider a direct debate,” Sohail said.

Civic issues and development remain the main criteria for selecting the candidate. Residents recall that in the previous Assembly elections, they unanimously supported the late Maganti Gopinath, who was appreciated for his clean image and visible development efforts.

“Over the past 12 years, various development works have been completed under Gopinath’s leadership and his integrity has never been questioned,” said P. Kalyan Kumar, a technician from Shaikpet. However, some residents currently express mixed views about the current political atmosphere.

“Naveen is a good person and a local person, but residents are unhappy with the Congress’s approach to development,” said Abdul Khaliq, a businessman from Yousufguda.