Hyderabad: The Telangana Congress is unlikely to support the Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) against the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat. Leaders from the grand old party in fact said that they are hoping to be on “friendly” terms with the AIMIM to get support for other Parliament seats.
After MBT head Amjadullah Khan almost beat the AIMIM for the Yakutpura Assembly seat in last year Assembly polls, the Congress gave feelers that it wanted to support MBT for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat. Amjadullah Khan lost the seat by just 878 votes. A senior Congress leader said that they have zeroed down to three names for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat.
When asked if MBT’s Amjadullah Khan is one among the names, the Congress leader told said it was not the case. “Only Rahul Gandhi ji does not want help from the AIMIM due to the damage that Owaisi has done to the party over the years,” he stated, adding that state leaders were on par with working out a deal with the AIMIM, albeit unofficially, if possible.
To put it simply, the Congress in Telangana is hoping to mend its old ties with the AIMIM in return for help in other seats. However, the AIMIM has over the last decade maintained that it has a “friendly” relationship with the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
It was earlier reported that the Congress would support MBT in a bid to take on the AIMIm seriously for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat. The AIMIM has been holding the constituency since 1984. In the 2019 election, party chief Asaduddin Owaisi won it by securing over five lakh votes. Its closest rival was the BJP with close to 2.35 lakh votes.
BRS and AIMIM mum
It is to be seen how the BRS reacts to this new development, given that the AIMIM has openly supported BRS supremo and ex-chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) in the past. A senior AIMIM functionary earlier told Siasat.com that the party is certainly not going to return back to the Congress alliance.
The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM had quit the Congress-led national UPA alliance after a fallout. “We may support the government to get work done in our constituencies, but there is no political alliance,” maintained the AIMIM functionary. The senior Congress leader however clearly stated that his party was not interested in antagonising the AIMIM and hinted that they would be more interested in seeking Owaisi’s help.
AIMIM’s realpolitik
The AIMIM has a history of generally working with ruling parties. After it cut ties with the Congress in the joint Andhra Pradesh earlier, Asaduddin Owaisi warmed up to KCR after the state’s formation in 2014. Both of them always maintained that they were on “friendly” terms and even supported each other in the 2018 and 2023 state elections, and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as well.
Owaisi in his public speeches has in the past asked Muslims to support the BRS. However, in spite of it, the Congress managed to win and beat KCR in last year’s state election.
However, now it looks like the AIMIM may get friendly with the Congress if need be as well. It may be recalled that Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy even met AIMIM Chandrayangutta MLA and Asaduddin’s younger brother Akbaruddin Owaisi in London soon after the Congress won last year’s Assembly polls. It set-off speculation that both sides had reconciled politically to some extent. Things are likely to get clearer in the coming day once campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections heat up.
