His primary aim is to make people aware of their constitutional rights and find solutions to the issues that have been dogging the constituency.
Akarsh Sriramoju.
There are no high-decibel political rhetoric or tall promises in his campaign. He points out the reality around him, which others could relate to in the Serilingampally Assembly in the Ranga Reddy district.
“I’ve been observing the Telangana movement and the later developments. The development that the movement aspired for has still not been achieved,” said Akarsh Sriramoju who is contesting from Serilingampally as an independent candidate.
Akarsh completed an MSc in Cognitive Science from the University of Hyderabad and worked with an IT firm for two years. In April 2023, he quit his job to venture into politics and create a “Samagra” (comprehensive) Serilingampally, his native constituency.
His primary aim is to make people aware of their constitutional rights and help them use their rights to find solutions to the issues that are dogging the constituency.
“Over the last four to five months, I travelled all across the constituency to understand the issues of the people. I’ve been to all parts of the constituency. I visited slums, hospitals, schools, etc,” he said.
“I’ve witnessed several issues including urban waterlogging, lack of proper sanitation and healthcare facilities, among other issues,” he told South First.
He said that his election manifesto was created after considering all the issues and has suggested solutions. In his words, it is for a “Samagra Serilingampally”.
Akarsh is contesting as part of a citizen’s movement called Justice Movement for India. The yet-to-be-registered organisation started functioning in August 2022 and has two candidates in the fray for the 30 November Assembly polls.
The second candidate, Rahul Kodarapu, is contesting from the Secunderabad Assembly constituency.
In his “six-point” manifesto Akarsh mentions solutions to the major issues that the constituency has been facing over the years.
The issues include a lack of people’s participation in policy development, a lack of proper medical facilities, unemployment, poor infrastructure, and others.
“We did a three-month survey to analyse people’s problems. My manifesto promises solutions to the issues,” he said.
He also highlighted that the constituency lacked proper medical and educational facilities.
“There is a provision for a medical facility in each ward but it is practically nonexistent. Also, most of the government schools here are run with the help of NGOs and CSR [corporate social responsibility] funds. They are not getting anything from the government. To get good healthcare and education, people are dependent on private players,” Akarsh said.
“This should not be the case anywhere. I want to initiate a change so that education and medical facilities are accessible to all,” he said.
“Every year, 40 percent of funds of the MLA Constituency Development Programme (CDP) will be used to renovate existing hospitals and to build new ones,” his manifesto said.
He also pointed out the inadequate drainage facility throughout the constituency which floods the roads whenever it rains.
“In the past 10 years, nothing much has been done to establish a proper drainage system so that it could end the urban flooding issue. There are a lot of encroachments in the lakes and the drainage system. The government is taking no action,” he said.
“But, if there is an elected representative who can take care of the constituency, change and development will follow,” he added, saying that it is the vision of the Justice Movement for India.
Akarsh said that this time, his aim is not to win but to raise awareness among people to vote for development.
“Many educated people are not voting citing the reason that politicians were not doing anything for them. The voting percentage of this constituency in the last election was only around 48 percent,” he said.
“So, my appeal to them is to exercise their right to vote and support the people who believe in changing the existing system to bring in development,” he added.
With a voter population of over 6.98 lakh people, Serilingampally is the largest Assembly constituency in Telangana.
The current representative of the constituency is Arekapudi Gandhi who has been holding the office for the past 10 years. He contested under the TDP banner in 2014 and on a TRS (now BRS) ticket in 2018.
However, most people in the constituency think that the MLA is inaccessible to them.
“Even though the MLA has been in the office for so many years, if anyone wants to meet him, they are required to pass through several barriers — his associates. Even then, meeting him would not be assured,” Syed Ismail, who runs a tailoring shop, told South First.
A damaged road at an intersection in the constituency.
“Even after these many years, the constituency still lacks some proper infrastructure including proper roads and drainage system. Urban flooding is a common problem over the years,” he added.
Another person, Mani, who is a migrant labourer from Tamil Nadu, shared the same opinion.
“During rains, the road gets flooded soon and the water almost comes inside the shop. This should be addressed,” he said.
However, when asked about the medical facilities, Mani said that they are available.
The issues faced by the people in Serilingampally and the ones mentioned in the manifesto of Akarsh were the same. However, people were not ready to vote for an independent candidate.
“An MLA who has won without any party affiliation would not be able to fetch any developments for the constituency. It is difficult even for the opposition parties to bring government funds, so it is better to have a party affiliated representatives,” Ismail said.
The narrative was, however, countered by Akarsh who said: “The people are opposing independent candidates only because they are unaware of the MLA funds allocated to the representatives.”
He continued: “In most constituencies, the funds are getting lapsed. Ideally, it should be properly used for the development of the constituency and to address the issues of the people.”
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