Hyderabad, Nov 3: The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) has announced its participation in the upcoming Telangana Assembly elections, which are scheduled for November 30. AIMIM President and Hyderabad MP, Asaduddin Owaisi, revealed that the party will contest nine seats in the state capital, Hyderabad, including the addition of Rajendra Nagar and Jubilee Hills to the seven seats it currently holds.
In a strategic move, the party decided to replace two sitting legislators, Syed Ahmed Pasha Quadri and Mumtaz Ahmed Khan, who were elected from Yakutpura and Charminar respectively in the 2018 elections.
Jafar Hussain Meraj, formerly elected from Nampally, will now represent Yakutpura, and the former Mayor of Hyderabad, Mir Zulfeqar Ali, will contest from Charminar. Another former Mayor, Majid Hussain, is set to contest from Nampally, while the prominent AIMIM leader and Asaduddin Owaisi’s brother, Akbaruddin Owaisi, will seek re-election from Chandrayangutta.
The AIMIM has retained Ahmed Balala as its candidate for Malakpet and Kausar Mohiuddin for Karwan. The party is expected to announce its candidates for Bahadurpura, Jubilee Hills, and Rajendra Nagar constituencies at a later date. Of note is the AIMIM’s decision to contest Jubilee Hills, where the Congress party has fielded former Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin.
In the 2018 elections, AIMIM contested eight seats but did not field a candidate from Jubilee Hills, while they had participated in Jubilee Hills in 2014, where their candidate, V. Naveen Yadav, finished as a runner-up. In the Rajendra Nagar constituency, AIMIM has consistently held the third position in the 2009, 2014, and 2018 elections.
