Hyderabad: The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) will most likely not contest the upcoming Jubilee Hills by-election to support the ruling Congress as part of its unofficial alliance both sides currently are maintaining. The AIMIM had supported the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which one the seat, in the 2023 December Assembly polls by putting up a candidate who drew a chunk of Muslim votes, which would have otherwise gone to the Congress.
The by-poll will be necessitated due to the death of BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath, who passed away due to a cardiac arrest. The Gopinath secured 80,549 votes, while Congress candidate and former Indian cricket team captain Mohd Azharuddin came second with 64,212 votes. Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Lanka Deepak Reddy also managed to secure over 25000 votes, while AIMIM candidate Rasheed Farazuddin came fourth with 7848 votes.
This time however the contest will not be easy going for the Congress even if the AIMIM supports it, as the BRS will in all likelihood receive sympathy voters as well. More importantly, ex-BRS leader Baba Fasiuddin who is now in the Congress, might give the ruling party a harder time due to his alleged involvement in the suicide of a local BRS leader.
“As the Congress helped the AIMIM in winning the MLC elections, we will reciprocate this time. The friendly relations with the ruling government will not change,” said a senior AIMIM functionary. He told Siasat.com that while it will help the ruling party, Fasiuddin’s case will have a negative impact for sure and may affect the result of the Jubilee Hills election.
In the 2023 Telangana Assembly polls, the AIMIM Had supported the BRS, which lost power to the Congress. The grand old party won 64 out of 119 seats, while the BRS got 39, the BJP 8, AIMIM 7 and the CPI bagged one. However, dynamics shifted soon after as the AIMIM ditched its ‘friendly’ status with the BRS and went on to support Congress candidates in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
