Even at the peak of its power in Telangana, the Congress was unable to make inroads electorally in Hyderabad’s Old City area. In an attempt to remedy this, the party has roped in former Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader and businessman Ali Masqati, hoping that the party’s Muslim leaders will finally be able to challenge the All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in its bastion of Old City. Ali Masqati joined the Congress on September 17, and his entry into the grand old party might help show that it is serious about taking on the AIMIM. Ali’s father, Ibrahim Masqati, was a two-time AIMIM MLA and a TDP MLC.
The AIMIM, led by Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi, has been winning seven seats in the city since 2009, as most of them are predominantly Muslim in terms of voters. Six of the seven constituencies – Chandrayangutta, Karwan, Malakpet, Bahadurpura, Charminar and Yakutpura – fall under Hyderabad’s Old City areas.
Nampally constituency is the only seat that falls outside it and has a sizeable chunk of non-Muslim voters (believed to be around 40%).
“We brought in Masqati to give the AIMIM a fight this time, but whether it will work depends on the party’s seriousness to win in the Old City. Our candidates have to be supported both monetarily and even for campaigning. Apart from the Old City seats, Nampally is a seat that we have a higher chance of winning against the AIMIM, as our candidate Feroz Khan lost the seat last time by about 10,000 votes,” a Congress leader told TNM.
Speaking to TNM, Ali Masqati said he had not decided which seat he would contest in the upcoming elections, slated to be held at the end of this year. “I will decide in some time and start my campaign soon,” he added. The Masqati family has some influence amongst the Muslim community in Hyderabad and runs a chain of dairy stores under Masqati Dairy. Ali’s father, Ibrahim Masqati, was a former two-time AIMIM MLA and joined the TDP in 2002.
The Congress faces a tough situation in Telangana when it comes to minority votes given that Muslims, who form about 12.5% of the state’s four crore population, largely supported BRS in the 2018 state elections thanks to support from the AIMIM. Except for ex-minister Shabbir Ali, the grand old party lacks strong Muslim leaders. “The induction of Ali Masqati is important for us in that sense. We have to see how the high command takes it forward,” stated a Muslim leader from the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee.
In the 2018 Telangana elections, the AIMIM contested eight seats and won seven – all in Hyderabad. The two seats that Congress’s Ali Masqati is likely to consider are Charminar and Yakutpura, both in the heart of the Old City. AIMIM’s Mumtaz Ahmed Khan won the Charminar seat with 53,808 votes, with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Uma Mahendra coming second with 21,222 votes. Congress’s Mohd Ghouse stood third with 16,899 votes (16.7%).
Similarly, AIMIM’s Syed Pasha Quadri won the Yakutpura seat with 69,595 votes. In second place was Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) candidate Sama Sunder Reddy with 22,617, followed by Majilis Bachao Tehreek’s Majeedullah Khan with 21,222 votes. Congress’s Rajender Raju was a distant fifth with 6,452 votes (5.4%), after BJP’s Ch Roopraj, who polled 16,608 votes.
In the Nampally seat, Congress candidate Feroz Khan gave the AIMIM a scare by bagging 42,265 votes and coming in second place. In the end, AIMIM’s Jaffer Hussain won the constituency with 57,940 votes. BRS’s Anand Kumar Goud stood third with 17,015 votes. Feroz Khan has lost the seat thrice to AIMIM’s Jaffar Hussain since 2009.
The Congress in 2018 contested the elections in an alliance with the TDP, which as of now in Telangana, is defunct.
While numbers from previous elections show that AIMIM is way ahead of its rivals, it also has a “friendly” relationship with the ruling BRS. This means that BRS puts up candidates against the AIMIM in what they call “friendly” contests to essentially split the non-AIMIM votes between other parties.
In the 2018 state elections, the BRS won 88 seats, while the Congress and TDP, which formed a grand alliance with other smaller outfits, only managed to win 19 and two seats each. From the BJP, only Raja Singh managed to retain his Goshamahal seat in Hyderabad, while the AIMIM retained its seven constituencies.
“I don’t see Masqati joining Congress as a big deal, as it mostly won’t make any difference. Feroz Khan has created a nice image for himself, but only on social media. The current AIMIM Nampally MLA Jaffar Hussain Meraj also has a good image, and the contest will be interesting,” said political analyst Palwai Raghavendra Reddy.