Hyderabad: The new found bonhomie between the Telangana Congress and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) seems to be causing some consternation amongst the party’s Muslim leaders. A section of them are miffed with the Congress leadership for relying on the AIMIM for Muslim votes and support, instead of grooming Muslim leaders for the future.
In the just concluded Lok Sabha elections, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has openly asked supporters to vote for Congress. “When the Congress is in a bad state there will be no Muslim face in the party to help it seek minority votes. Keeping AIMIM with us means the Muslim leadership in the party will not grow,” said a senior Congress Muslim leader from Hyderabad.
He added that getting the AIMIM to canvass for the Congress in the Lok Sabha election also did not help the party much. “In fact, in a few seats, because Owaisi openly asked Muslims to vote for Congress in certain seats, it backfired as it consolidated Hindu votes towards the BJP. Everyone knows that outside Hyderabad the AIMIM has limited influence, so we did not need Owaisi. The state leadership is aware of this but they still wanted AIMIM’s help,” the Congress leader told Siasat.com.
The Congress and AIMIM began showing signs of rebuilding bridges that were burnt after Owaisi cut all ties with the grand old party in 2012. Since then he has been a bitter critic of it, and after Telangana’s formation in 2014 found a new friend in the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) chief K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR). Even in the 2023 state elections, Owaisi asked Muslims to vote for KCR.
However, after the Congress won the Telangana Assembly elections, it was evident that it did not want to be in an adversarial position with the AIMIM. Chief minister Revanth Reddy on a trip to London shared photos AIMIM Chandrayangutta MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi, indicating that both sides were on good terms. This was eventually followed by his elder brother Asaduddin Owaisi asking Muslims to vote for Congress during the last campaign meeting for the Lok Sabha election, surprising many.
“They can use AIMIM when needed, but openly formalising ties with them will only help BJP. Aside from that, it is clear that the party wants Muslim votes, but not Muslim leaders. The high command should take note of all this,” said another Muslim leader from the Congress, who also did not want to be identified. He added that the party’s minority cell has also been defunct since last year.
In the Lok Sabha election, the Congress and BJP both won 8 seats each out of 17. The AIMIM retained the Hyderabad constituency, which it has been winning since 1984. The results were not the best for the Congress, since it is ruling in Telangana, and was expecting to perform better. The BRS managed to draw a blank, as many had expected.
