When All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi censured the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) at a public meeting in Adilabad on May 29, 2023, it took everyone by surprise. It was one of those rare occasions where the Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP criticised the ruling BRS in Telangana, given that both sides have always maintained they are on “friendly” terms.
Owaisi in his speech at Adilabad, criticised the Telangana government for not keeping its promises made to the Muslim community. According to a report from the Etemaad Daily (run by the AIMIM), Owaisi alleged that there was a bias against the minority community when it came to extending financial support to places of worship, aside from failing to construct an International Islamic Centre at Gachibowli.
Owaisi’s AIMIM had opposed the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and the formation of Telangana, a political stand that is diametrically opposite to KCR and TRS. But after 2014, the two leaders, Owaisi and KCR, formed a political relationship which has benefitted both sides.
The BRS, which won 99 councillor seats out of 150 in the 2015 Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls, found itself in a spot after its tally went down to just 56 after the BJP bagged as many as 48 seats (it won four in the previous elections). The AIMIM, which maintained its tally of 44, came to the BRS’s rescue in 2020 and offered support. But the two parties did not form an official alliance.
So what finally changed this time? The AIMIM, according to some of its leaders, is a little miffed with the BRS for not extending support to Muslims in the state in the ways the party expected it to. But Owaisi’s criticism is unlikely to result in him breaking off the “friendly” relationship he shares with KCR. At least not yet.
“The state government sanctions the money for minority programmes, but then there is a lack of manpower in the department to complete the work. They are distributing Rs 10 lakh for Dalit beneficiaries under the Dalit Bandhu scheme, but microloans are not being disbursed to Muslims properly,” said a senior AIMIM functionary, who did not want to be named.
The AIMIM leader told TNM that as far as Muslims and the Telangana government are concerned, only the minority residential schools and Shaadi Mubarak scheme (under which newly married women are given a one-time financial assistance of a little over Rs one lakh) are working well, and the Shaadi Mubarak. “We have to criticise the government. Who else can we blame?” he asked.
The move to openly criticise BRS also has other reasons. BJP has been pushing Hindutva for many months, using Owaisi’s party as a reason to call KCR anti-Hindu. In successive elections, the BJP has urged the electorate to consolidate behind them if they do not want a government that is “afraid of the Razakar party”, referring to the AIMIM. In the run-up to the 2020 GHMC polls, Telangana BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar also alleged that KCR has “links to terror outfits”.
Fears of the BJP using the BRS-AIMIM alliance to carve a space for themselves have led to the strategic move of staging a public fight. Owaisi could very well be doing KCR a favour by questioning his commitment to the minorities of the state, says an insider in the AIMIM.
This could also ensure that the minority vote bank is not split between AIMIM and Congress. “We are also answerable to those who have trusted us. The Muslims have voted for us and we have to ensure that we represent their aspirations and take up their issues,” an AIMIM leader said.
The BRS won 88 of the total 119 seats in the 2018 Telangana elections. The Congress, which formed a grand alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and other outfits, won only 19 seats. Within months, 12 MLAs from the grand old party, and both the TDP MLAs defected to the BRS. The BJP’s Hindutva face in Telangana, Raja Singh, was its lone MLA who won from the Goshamahal seat.
Owaisi’s AIMIM has been contesting seats in other states and has been successful in Maharashtra and Bihar, where it won two and five seats (of which four have shifted to the ruling RJD). It contested close to 20 seats in the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh in the 2014 state election and could only win in Hyderabad. However, it came closer to winning the Nizamabad (urban) seat in Telangana.
In the Nizamabad (urban) seat, Muslim votes are about 20% of the electorate. Owaisi’s AIMIM in 2014 came second with 31,648 votes, against B Ganesh of BRS, who secured 40,947 votes and won. The BJP came third with 27,982 votes and the Congress got 25,400 votes. It shows that in a four-way contest, Owaisi can have an impact if he decides to put up candidates in seats with a higher percentage of Muslim voters.
It may be noted that the BRS also put up candidates in the seven seats that the AIMIM has been winning in Hyderabad for over a decade in the 2018 polls. (Owaisi then restricted his party to just those seats)
“Those friendly contests will be there. There are about 29 seats where Muslim votes are over 15% and above. 90 seats have less than 15% votes,” said the AIMIM leader, and added that the relationship between them and the BRS is positive despite Owaisi’s latest comments.
When contacted, BRS leaders also maintained the same and brushed-off Asaduddin Owaisi’s comments as an “election strategy” for the upcoming polls. “I don't think there are any differences between both parties. AIMIM may support us from outside like in 2018. We will wait for some more time and see what they say,” said a BRS legislator.
Another BRS functionary, who also did not want to be quoted, also said that Owaisi’s comments are of no major concern. “But some MLAs in districts where Muslim voters are high in number don’t trust the AIMIM and suspect some foul play. But that we will know only closer to the elections,” he added.
Political analyst Palwai Raghavendra Reddy said that Owaisi is most likely trying to squeeze more out of the BRS government. “He wants to show KCR from time to time that he also still has an impact. I don’t see it as anything more than that. Many Muslims in the state appreciate KCR. The Shaadi Mubarak scheme has made him an icon of sorts in some families,” he opined.
In the run-up to the 2018 elections, Asaduddin Owaisi met KCR at the latter’s camp office in Begumpet. The meeting just before the election results were seen by many as an extension of the “friendly” relations both sides have so far maintained.
The AIMIM chief was seen commuting on his motorcycle, to the surprise of many. “Sir no question of “sneaking” this is how I move around in my city and the weather is perfect for a Bike ride with a “Car “alongside you (sic),” he said, responding to a Twitter user, who alleged that Owaisi “sneaked” into KCR’s office for the meeting.
Sir no question of “sneaking” this is how I move around in my city and weather is perfect for a Bike ride with a “Car “alongside you
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) December 10, 2018
So whether he rides on a bicycle to KCR’s office or not, just like in 2018, AIMIM and BRS are likely to maintain the status quo. With Owaisi restricting himself to seven Assembly constituencies, which includes Hyderabad’s Old City areas that are the AIMIM’s bastion, the BRS profited electorally from his tacit support. The same is likely to be the case in the upcoming polls as well.