Hyderabad: Former Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader and two-time Malakpet constituency representative Muzaffar Ali Khan joined the Congress here in the presence of state president Revanth Reddy and Malakpet candidate Mohd Akbar, on Monday, October 30.
Muzaffar Ali Khan contested from Malakpet in 2018 polls and lost. He received 29,769 votes.
The senior politician shares a close relationship with Reddy and previously met him when the latter was assigned the role of president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee.
As per reports, Khan has vowed to protect the “secular fabric of the country.”
Khan had initially planned to join the Congress during a public meeting on September 17. However, due to the circumstances arising from the arrest of TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu just before the Congress meeting, he postponed his decision.
With eyes on the upcoming state polls, Congress is making efforts to strengthen its base in the Old City by luring leaders of different political parties and from various backgrounds into its fold.
The party has garnered support from Mohd Ayub Khan, alias Ayub Pahelwan, a local influential figure in the Old City. Ayub, along with his sons Shahbaz Khan and Arbaz Khan, have now joined the party. Moreover, Shahbaz Khan submitted his application at Gandhi Bhavan seeking Congress ticket from Charminar constituency.
The noted businessman from Old City, Ali Bin Ibrahim Masqati, was also recently inducted into the party fold on Sunday during the CWC (Congress Working Committee) meeting in Hyderabad. He had been associated with the Telugu Desam Party for long before switching over to Congress.
