Revanth-Akbaruddin meet sparks Congress-AIMIM buzz | India News
HYDERABAD: Is Congress trying to mend fences with Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, or will it put up a tough fight against Asaduddin ahead of the Lok Sabha elections?
Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy’s meeting with AIMIM floor leader in the Telangana assembly Akbaruddin Owaisi in London on Friday was not by chance. Revanth had invited Akbaruddin to study the Thames riverfront project and emulate best practices to rejuvenate the Musi river in Hyderabad.
The meeting between friends-turned-foes led to talk in political circles about Congress extending an olive branch to AIMIM. Although none of the leaders on either side is saying this openly, the possibility of the grand old party inviting AIMIM president Asaduddin to join the INDIA bloc is not being ruled out. This at a time when some Congress politicians are already talking to another party from Hyderabad’s old city, Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT), for a possible tie-up.
The buzz about the two rivals mending fences started when the Revanth-led government made Akbaruddin pro tem speaker in the assembly after forming government in December. The chief minister also held an exclusive meeting with AIMIM MLAs on the development of Hyderabad’s old city prior to their London rendezvous.
A senior AIMIM politician said there was not even a whiff in Dar-us-Salam, the AIMIM headquarters, about a possible tie-up and added that one should not forget that Asaduddin had called upon Muslims to vote for “mamu (KCR-led BRS)” in the recent assembly polls. But the talk in Congress circles is that nothing can be ruled out at this stage.
A section of senior politicians told the party high command that AIMIM should be roped into the INDIA bloc as it would not only consolidate the minority vote for Congress in Telangana but elsewhere in the country as well in the Lok Sabha polls.
Besides, Congress in Telangana has 64 seats in the assembly, just four seats above the threshold for a simple majority, causing concern among many about the possibility of the opposition bringing the government down. AIMIM’s seven MLAs could give Congress a much-needed cushion.
However, there is another group of Congress politicians working with AICC member in-charge of Telangana Deepa Das Munshi and other AICC secretaries who have been holding meetings with leaders of anti-AIMIM groups, including MBT,Tahreek Shabban chief Mushtaq Mallik, and others. “We want to show AIMIM its place. The strategy is to take on Asaduddin in Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency by fielding a formidable candidate against him,” a senior Congress politician said.
However, the seniors’ group which wants to invite AIMIM if at all Congress wants a pre-poll tie-up is of the view that MBT is a splinter group and has been almost finished politically by AIMIM in Hyderabad’s old city.
For his part, MBT leader Amjadullah Khan confirmed to TOI that some Congress politicians had approached him but he could not divulge details at this stage. A senior AICC leader said the party high command in Delhi is yet to take a final call on whether to invite AIMIM or continue as political antagonists.
Also, MBT has written letters to INDIA bloc leaders Rahul Gandhi, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Arvind Kejriwal and others to first conduct surveys to assess the damage being done by AIMIM to secular parties in Telangana and other states. “The secular parties can win many Lok Sabha seats by defeating BJP if the Owaisi brothers (Asaduddin and Akbaruddin Owaisi) keep their mouths shut. It is their speeches that polarise votes and help BJP,” MBT leader Amjadullah Khan said.
AIMIM had friendly relatiosns with Congress governments both in united Andhra Pradesh as well as at the Centre until it snapped ties after Akbaruddin was jailed during the Kiran Kumar Reddy-led Congress government for an allegedly inflammatory speech in 2012. Rahul Gandhi had accused AIMIM of being BJP’s B-team but the sequence of events has set off talk in political circles about the possibility of realignment.
A section of senior politicians told the party high command that AIMIM should be roped into the INDIA bloc as it would not only consolidate the minority vote for Congress in Telangana but elsewhere in the country as well in the Lok Sabha polls.
Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy’s meeting with AIMIM floor leader in the Telangana assembly Akbaruddin Owaisi in London on Friday was not by chance. Revanth had invited Akbaruddin to study the Thames riverfront project and emulate best practices to rejuvenate the Musi river in Hyderabad.
The meeting between friends-turned-foes led to talk in political circles about Congress extending an olive branch to AIMIM. Although none of the leaders on either side is saying this openly, the possibility of the grand old party inviting AIMIM president Asaduddin to join the INDIA bloc is not being ruled out. This at a time when some Congress politicians are already talking to another party from Hyderabad’s old city, Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT), for a possible tie-up.
The buzz about the two rivals mending fences started when the Revanth-led government made Akbaruddin pro tem speaker in the assembly after forming government in December. The chief minister also held an exclusive meeting with AIMIM MLAs on the development of Hyderabad’s old city prior to their London rendezvous.
A senior AIMIM politician said there was not even a whiff in Dar-us-Salam, the AIMIM headquarters, about a possible tie-up and added that one should not forget that Asaduddin had called upon Muslims to vote for “mamu (KCR-led BRS)” in the recent assembly polls. But the talk in Congress circles is that nothing can be ruled out at this stage.
A section of senior politicians told the party high command that AIMIM should be roped into the INDIA bloc as it would not only consolidate the minority vote for Congress in Telangana but elsewhere in the country as well in the Lok Sabha polls.
Besides, Congress in Telangana has 64 seats in the assembly, just four seats above the threshold for a simple majority, causing concern among many about the possibility of the opposition bringing the government down. AIMIM’s seven MLAs could give Congress a much-needed cushion.
However, there is another group of Congress politicians working with AICC member in-charge of Telangana Deepa Das Munshi and other AICC secretaries who have been holding meetings with leaders of anti-AIMIM groups, including MBT,Tahreek Shabban chief Mushtaq Mallik, and others. “We want to show AIMIM its place. The strategy is to take on Asaduddin in Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency by fielding a formidable candidate against him,” a senior Congress politician said.
However, the seniors’ group which wants to invite AIMIM if at all Congress wants a pre-poll tie-up is of the view that MBT is a splinter group and has been almost finished politically by AIMIM in Hyderabad’s old city.
For his part, MBT leader Amjadullah Khan confirmed to TOI that some Congress politicians had approached him but he could not divulge details at this stage. A senior AICC leader said the party high command in Delhi is yet to take a final call on whether to invite AIMIM or continue as political antagonists.
Also, MBT has written letters to INDIA bloc leaders Rahul Gandhi, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Arvind Kejriwal and others to first conduct surveys to assess the damage being done by AIMIM to secular parties in Telangana and other states. “The secular parties can win many Lok Sabha seats by defeating BJP if the Owaisi brothers (Asaduddin and Akbaruddin Owaisi) keep their mouths shut. It is their speeches that polarise votes and help BJP,” MBT leader Amjadullah Khan said.
AIMIM had friendly relatiosns with Congress governments both in united Andhra Pradesh as well as at the Centre until it snapped ties after Akbaruddin was jailed during the Kiran Kumar Reddy-led Congress government for an allegedly inflammatory speech in 2012. Rahul Gandhi had accused AIMIM of being BJP’s B-team but the sequence of events has set off talk in political circles about the possibility of realignment.
A section of senior politicians told the party high command that AIMIM should be roped into the INDIA bloc as it would not only consolidate the minority vote for Congress in Telangana but elsewhere in the country as well in the Lok Sabha polls.
