Hyderabad: The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is likely to back Congress candidate V Naveen Yadav in the bye-elections for the Jubilee Hills constituency to be held on November 11.
The party’s move to stay away from the Jubilee Hills by-polls is being seen as an attempt to prevent splitting of minority votes and ensure the defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), party sources said.
V Naveen Yadav was declared as Congress’s official candidate on Wednesday. Yadav, a local face in the Jubilee Hills constituency, enjoys considerable clout not only among Hindus but also among the Muslims who constitute roughly 34 percent of the total voters.
Overall, there are roughly 4 lakh voters in Jubilee Hills, of whom around 1.20 lakh are Muslims, and another 22,000 belong to other minority communities.
Minority-dominated areas like Erragadda, Rahmathnagar, Yousufguda, Shaikpet, and Bharathnagar are part of the Jubilee Hills constituency.
In 2019, the AIMIM did not field any candidate from Jubilee Hills while in the following assembly elections in 2023, it fielded Shaikpet corporator, Mohamed Rashed Farazuddin from Jubilee Hills. However, he lost to BRS candidate Maganti Gopinath, whose recent demise necessitated the by-polls.
The AIMIM candidate managed to secure only 7, 848 votes while Congress candidate Mohammed Azharuddin stood in second place with roughly 62,000 votes. The late BRS MLA, Maganti Gopinath had secured over 80,000 votes.
The AIMIM sources said the AIMIM leadership will ask its party cadre to back Naveen Yadav, to ensure his victory. The party is hopeful that if Naveen Yadav wins the seat, it will help the minorities to a great extent and pave way for more development.
