Ahead of the Assembly elections in Telangana, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) retired two of its veteran leaders — Mumtaz Ahmed Khan and Syed Ahmed Pasha Quadri. In the fray are two new candidates, both former mayors of Hyderabad, Mir Zulfequar Ali and Mohammed Majid Hussain, fielded from Charminar and Nampally segments respectively.
Mr. Hussain, who was first elected as Ahmed Nagar corporator in 2009, will slug it out electorally in Nampally with the Congress’ Feroz Khan, who contested the 2014 Assembly polls on a TDP ticket against sitting MLA Jaffar Hussain Meraj.
“Traditionally, the Majlis, and the current MLA are strong in Nampally, a seat that Feroz Khan has been trying hard to wrest from them for many years. He has been projecting himself as a more acceptable face for everybody than the sitting MLA,” said an observer who is a Nampally resident. “Given the recent ‘favourable’ position of the Congress, it seems that the MIM wants to bolster its chances by fielding Mr. Hussain, who enjoys wide support among the youth, and is from the constituency,” he said.
Mr. Meraj has now been fielded from Yakutpura, a seat which the AIMIM has won comfortably in the past. The sitting Nampally legislator was first elected as the Toli Chowki corporator in 2009 and went on to become the Deputy Mayor. He has been an MLA since 2014.
While six partymen found their names on the first list, conspicuous is the absence of a candidate from Bahadurpura constituency. Considered a safe seat, Mohammed Moazam Khan, the sitting MLA, secured over a staggering 1.06 lakh votes in the 2014 elections, as against 11,829 polled by his nearest rival. In 2018, Mr. Khan won again with a massive margin of over 82,000 votes.
Mr. Khan belongs to the Mehdavi Muslim sect. MIM has a history of having representation of various sects and schools of thought in their political spectrum. However, it is unclear whether Mr. Khan would be given a ticket from this constituency, or he will be moved to another segment to accommodate another possible candidate. AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi continues to have his cards close to his chest in connection with the second list of candidates, which is expected soon.
The announcement of Mr. Ali as the candidate from Charminar has come as a surprise to those outside the party. Insiders, however, consider him a loyalist. He was elected a corporator from Hussaini Alam in 1986 and became the youngest Mayor of Hyderabad in 1991.
The party is no stranger in the Rajendra Nagar constituency. In 2014, AIMIM fielded Z.H. Javid, who is now member of the Telangana State Waqf Board. He came third with over 49,000 votes. In 2018, the party fielded Mirza Rahmat Baig, who is now a member of the Council. The party has asserted that it will field a candidate there, and will contest to win.
All eyes will now be on the Jubilee Hills seat. While Mr. Owaisi did not announce a candidate, it was in 2014 that MIM fielded V. Naveen Yadav, who polled 41,656 votes and came second. While MIM did not field him in the subsequent election, Mr. Yadav contested as an Independent candidate, and secured over 18,000 votes. While it is unclear whether he will be given a ticket, sources said that Mr. Yadav has been conducting meetings in his area.
