Hyderabad: Congress leader and ex-captain of the Indian cricket team Mohd Azharuddin is unlikely to get be the party candidate for the upcoming Jubilee Hills by-election, which will be held in the coming months due to the death of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Maganti Gopinath who passed away earlier this month. The Jubilee Hills MLA had been winning the constituency since 2014.
According to Congress leaders from Hyderabad, Azharuddin’s loss to Gopinath and the lack of reach within the public in the Jubilee Hills constituency is another factor that may lead to him not getting the seat. It may be noted that about 30% of the voters in the seat are Muslims, which is why the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) will also play a crucial role in the results.
This time the Asaduddin Owaisi-led party will support the ruling Congress as both sides are currently in an unofficial alliance, which has been the case since the grand old party led by chief minister Revanth Reddy won the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections. Like the Jubilee Hills seat, the Congress however failed to win any of the 24 Assembly constituencies in the Greater Hyderabad area.
Hence winning by-election will be of utmost importance to the ruling party. Moreover, losing the Jubilee Hills seat again would also mean a loss of face for the Congress. “The BRS will have sympathy for sure as the sitting MLA died. Apart from Azharuddin, Faheem Qureshi’s name has also come up as likely candidate. But unlike Azharuddin, other minority candidates do not have the same charm, so they may give it to a Reddy leader who can counter the BRS,” said the Congress leader.
Jubilee Hills by-poll may be triangular fight
In the 2023 elections for the Jubilee Hills seat, Gopinath secured 80,549 votes, while Congress candidate and former Indian cricket team captain Mohd Azharuddin came second with 64,212 votes. Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Lanka Deepak Reddy also managed to secure over 25000 votes, while AIMIM candidate Rasheed Farazuddin came fourth with 7848 votes.
This time the contest will also likely be triangular, as the BJP has made some inroads in the city and state. The party managed to get 20% of the vote share in the 2023 Assembly elections and nearly half the vote share in the subsequent 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
BRS leaders from Hyderabad also said that while the party is confident of winning, it will have to be careful as the Congress will put its full force for the by-poll. “They have the money and power as of now. Sympathy is just one small part but AIMIM supporting them makes a difference,” a BRS leader who did not want to be named told Siasat.com.
The AIMIM had maintained “friendly” relations with the BRS since it came into power in 2014 in the state. The Owaisi-headed party also supported it in the 2023 polls, but shifted sides to the Congress after it came to power.
