Cong., AIMIM Set to Battle it Out for Nampally Assembly Seat

HYDERABAD: The battle for the Nampally Assembly seat is set to be a tough one between the AIMIM and its one-time ally, Congress, which is trying to make inroads into the AIMIM’s strongholds, as Nampally is the only constituency among six in the city where AIMIM faces an electoral battle of sorts.

The AIMIM has retained all seven constituencies in the city since 2009.

 The Congress has named Feroz Khan as its candidate from the segment, while the AIMIM is mulling over replacing incumbent Jaffar Hussain Meraj.

“Former Hyderabad mayor Mohammed Majid Hussain is likely to be the Nampally candidate from our party. The present MLA of Nampally will be given responsibility of another constituency,” an AIMIM worker from Nampally said.

While the Congress is banking on the experience of Feroz Khan, who contested three consecutive times against the AIMIM in Nampally — in 2009 for Praja Rajyam Party, in 2014 for the TD and in 2018, for the Congress — the AIMIM is confident of retaining its traditional vote bank.

In 2018, the AIMIM won the Nampally Assembly constituency by 9,600 votes, while the numbers were 17,000 and 6,700 in 2014 and 2009, respectively. Feroz Khan was the runner-up in all three instances.

Spot visits by Deccan Chronicle found that the AIMIM and Congress candidate Feroz Khan had dedicated followers in Nampally, especially among the younger age groups.

According to the electoral rolls published on October 4, there are 3,21,159 voters and 277 polling stations in the Nampally Assembly constituency.

Officials deployed on election duty in Nampally said that the number of electors may change in the supplementary rolls that will be published on November 15. “The Congress candidate from Nampally has requested for deletion of names in electoral rolls claiming them to be bogus votes,” an election official said.