Hyderabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded four Muslim candidates in the Karimnagar Municipal Corporation elections scheduled for February 11, according to the party’s candidate list dated February 2—an unusual move in a town where the party has not nominated a Muslim candidate for nearly 50 years.
BJP targets AIMIM strongholds
The most closely watched nomination is that of Md Inayath Ali from Ward 32, a Muslim-majority locality that has remained under the control of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) for nearly four decades. Of the ward’s 5,030 voters, around 98 per cent are Muslims, and the BJP had not contested the seat in previous municipal elections.
Md Inayath Ali, a local flower shop owner and resident of Ward 32, is contesting on a BJP ticket for the first time. He is associated with the party’s minority outreach efforts and serves as the Telangana president of Sufi Samvad, an initiative linked to the BJP’s Minority Morcha. His candidature marks the BJP’s first electoral entry into the ward.
Apart from Ward 32, the BJP has nominated Md Fayazuddin (Ward 31), Md Sami Parvez (Ward 59) and Syed Rizwana (Ward 61). All four Muslim candidates have been fielded in backward class–reserved wards, as reflected in the party list released on February 2.
The move has drawn particular attention as it comes in Karimnagar, the parliamentary constituency of Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar (previously served as Telangana BJP president), whose political rise in Telangana has been closely tied to inflammatory, openly Islamophobic rhetoric.
BC reservation context
The decision to field Muslim candidates in BC-reserved wards has drawn notice in view of the party’s loud opposition to extending BC reservations to Muslims on religious lines.
Senior BJP leaders in Telangana have repeatedly opposed proposals by the Congress government to allocate a portion of backward class reservations in local body elections to Muslims, arguing that reservations should be based on social and educational backwardness rather than religion.
Bandi Sanjay has described such proposals as “unconstitutional and detrimental to existing BC communities”, and has said the party would mobilise protests against any move to extend BC reservations to Muslims on “religious grounds.”
The development can be seen as the BJP prioritising the immediate political objective of troubling the AIMIM over its broader opposition to extending BC reservations to Muslims, even as it continues to publicly reject “religion-based quotas.’
This is reflected in Sanjay’s recent remark that the BJP is “not opposed to Muslims but to the AIMIM,” which he alleged had contributed to the community’s backwardness.
AIMIM is Bandi Sanjay’s top target in Karimnagar campaign
The Karimnagar civic contest is unfolding under the strong imprint of Bandi Sanjay, who has led an aggressive, high-visibility campaign across the constituency.
Known for his confrontational style, Sanjay has frequently framed the election as a contest against AIMIM’s influence in local governance, while also targeting the Congress government on issues related to reservations, welfare delivery and law and order.
The Karimnagar MP’s campaign has also included references to the issue of triple talaq as part of its outreach to Muslim women voters, questioning Asaduddin Owaisi on the matter.
He has raised the subject in campaign speeches, citing the BJP-led government’s decision to criminalise the practice, while also calling on the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Congress to clarify their positions on the issue.
Sanjay’s direct involvement has ensured that the BJP’s municipal campaign in Karimnagar mirrors the combative tone seen in recent Assembly and parliamentary contests, even though civic elections have traditionally focused on local issues such as infrastructure and basic services.
Change in BJP’s electoral approach
Beyond the reservation debate, the Karimnagar nominations indicate a calibrated attempt by the BJP to expand its organisational footprint in select civic wards, particularly in areas where AIMIM has maintained long-standing political dominance.
While the BJP’s electoral prospects in Ward 32 remain constrained by the ward’s demographic composition and AIMIM’s organisational strength, the decision to contest the seat marks a departure from the party’s earlier approach of staying out of Muslim-majority civic wards dominated by AIMIM.
AIMIM intensifies campaign
AIMIM, for its part, has intensified its campaign in Ward 32 and in Karimnagar more generally, with senior leaders and campaigners from outside Telangana joining the effort.
The AIMIM campaign in Karimnagar has also seen its chief and MP Asaduddin Owaisi and MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi address public meetings in the town ahead of polling.
During their speeches, the Owaisi brothers criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that it pursued divisive politics.
Among those campaigning is Sahar Sheikh, a corporator from Mumbai, who recently drew attention after saying during a local campaign that she would “paint Mumbai green,” a remark that triggered political controversy.
Karimnagar Municipal Corporation has a total of 66 wards, for which the civic polls will be held on February 11, with voting from 7 am to 5 pm and counting scheduled on February 13.
