Hyderabad: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi appears to have an edge over his rival candidates in the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency, though K. Madhavi Latha, a debutant politician from the BJP has been giving jitters to the incumbent MP.
Speaking with media persons, Congress leader Feroz Khan said there is an understanding between the Congress and the AIMIM on the Hyderabad constituency, which has been the stronghold of the Owaisi-led party for several decades.
He ruled out the possibility of him being fielded by his party as the candidate in the Hyderabad constituency and said that the BRS will not win even one MP seat in the upcoming election.
While the BRS announced Gaddam Srinivas Yadav as their candidate from Hyderabad Lok Sabha polls, Shyam Rao, Sameer Waliullah and Ali Masqati are the front-runners from the Congress for the Lok Sabha constituency. A Congress leader said the ruling party could also field a woman candidate from the Hyderabad seat.
The Hyderabad constituency remained a pocket borough of the Owaisi family ever since incumbent MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s father Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi won the Lok Sabha election in Hyderabad for the first time as an independent candidate in 1984.
The Hyderabad constituency has over 20 lakh voters with a sizable chunk coming from the minority community. It is spread across seven assembly constituencies — Bahadurpura, Chandrayanagutta, Charminar, Goshamahal, Karwan, Malakpet and Yakutpura. Of these, six segments, except Goshamahal, are held by the AIMIM. The Goshamahal Assembly constituency, earlier known as Maharajgunj, is won by the BJP’s Hindutva posterboy T. Raja Singh.
In the recent assembly election, AIMIM’s Jaffar Hussain Meraj won from the Yakutpura segment by mere 878 voters over the Majlis Bachao Tahreek’s (MBT’s) Amjed Ullah Khan.
While the members of the AIMIM exude confidence in winning their traditional seat comfortably and that their only aim is to increase the victory margin, the BJP is trying its luck by playing the Hindutva and women card.
“If non-minority votes do not split, the BJP will create history by winning the Hyderabad seat,” said a BJP member, adding that they will also reach out to minorities seeking their votes.
