“Political parties should announce their candidates soon. Only then will our business pick up,” says Jeeven Reddy, as he tends to the till at his dhaba on NH-44, on the stretch known as Medchal highway. Just behind his cubicle, there are groups of men in white sitting and ordering the staff around in an expansive manner as they nurse their glasses with amber-coloured liquid.
The highway stretch has two kind of roadside restaurants. While one set with tables and seating arrangement are popular with families and outstation diners, another set of restaurants with primitive infrastructure and string cots are popular with truckers and travellers on a budget.
“There are 15 dhabas on this road. Usually, election means good business for family dhabas as politicians come here with groups of people for discussion. Some politicians throw parties here that boosts our business. We are missing all this as candidates have not been named here,” says Mr. Reddy.
Medchal is one of the few Assembly constituencies where no party has named its candidate for the forthcoming elections till now. On Tuesday, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti announced that the incumbent MLA, M. Sudheer Reddy, would take charge as the general secretary of the party, effectively stymieing a rebellion from his supporters.
“When the ruling party announced its public meeting near the ORR at Kongara Kalan, we saw good business. But after that, it has been downhill. Even the regular clientèle is not there due to Kartika maasam (the month in Hindu calendar during which a number of people turn vegetarian),” says Ramana of Classic Family Dhaba. It is interesting to note that Mr. Sudheer Reddy was one of the key organisers of the TRS meeting.
“We did roaring business during last elections. This year, we haven’t done even 10% of that. It’s not just business. I am missing all the action,” says Sanjeev Kumar, who has been running a dhaba in Medchal for the past 10 years.
