Ahead of the December 2023 Assembly elections, all eyes were on the Secunderabad Cantonment constituency, where two highly educated women were sweating it out to make their political debut.
One was 37-year-old Lasya Nanditha, daughter of five-time Cantonment MLA late G. Sayanna, while the other was no lesser known personality Dr. G. V. Vennela, a graduate from the reputed Osmania University with a doctorate in management studies, and daughter of revolutionary Balladeer Gaddar.
Both Sayanna and Gaddar had passed away last year and the mantle fell on the two young women to test their luck in politics. An SC reserved constituency, both debutants pitched hard to reach out to the voters, and luck smiled on Lasya Nanditha, who was an engineer.
Lasya Nanditha had gained some experience as Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s Kavadiguda division Corporator in 2016 but lost to the BJP nominee in the 2020 elections. In fact, encouraged by her father, Nanditha had contested as Ward member of Secunderabad Cantonment Board in 2015 but lost the seat.
The youngest among the three daughters of the late Sayanna, Nanditha’s selection as the Cantonment BRS candidate announced by none other than BRS president and then Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, surprised everyone.
She did not disappoint the faith reposed in her by the BRS leadership when she trounced the Congress and the BJP candidates. She made her debut in the Assembly by winning the Cantonment seat with a comfortable majority of 17,169 votes.
In an interview ahead of the Assembly elections to the media, Nanditha recalled how she was a die-hard Karnataka music fan. “I had taken training under a music teacher,” she had said adding that watching her father closely in his public life, she had gained lot of experience.
The sudden illness of her father made Nanditha focus more on looking after the affairs of the constituency, which her father represented. Sayanna was a sitting MLA when he passed away last February.
It is a sad coincidence that Nanditha also lost her life in a tragic road accident in the month of February.
