Here's why AIMIM may play a key role in Telangana polls

All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President Asaduddin Owaisi on October 6 reiterated that Telangana's caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, or KCR, will retain power in the upcoming assembly elections.

While Rao-led Telugu Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Owaisi’s AIMIM have not entered into a formal alliance, the two parties have described each other with warmth, hinting at a tacit understanding. KCR had also termed AIMIM as a ‘friendly party’.

Both Congress and the TRS have been trying to woo Muslim voters who form around 12.5 percent of the state’s population.

As per a report in Mint, 50 of the 119 assembly constituencies have more than 10 percent representation of Muslim voters.

Owaisi's party exerts considerable influence in areas in and around Hyderabad. As many as 24 constituencies come under the Greater Hyderabad region. At least seven of these seats are considered to be AIMIM bastions.

According to observers, Owaisi's support for KCR is meant to ensure Muslim voters support the TRS and drift away from the Congress. This could also split the consolidated opposition votes.

In 2014, AIMIM had contested 35 seats - 20 in Telangana and 15 in rest of Andhra Pradesh. While AIMIM's vote share was around 1.52 percent across undivided Andhra Pradesh, it had garnered around 12.42 percent votes share in the 35 seats it had contested.

The figures suggests that Owaisi's party enjoys significant influence beyond the seven seats it had won.

AIMIM has already issued its list of candidates for the seven seats in Hyderabad. Asaduddin Owaisi's brother Akbaruddin Owaisi will contest from Chandrayangutta -- a constituency he has won four consecutive times.

Congress has tied up with N Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) for the polls. The opposition is hoping to consolidate anti-TRS votes.

In 2014, the TRS had won 63 seats in the assembly polls that happened simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections. Congress had clinched 21 seats while TDP had settled for 15 seats in the 119-member assembly. AIMIM had won seven seats and the BJP had won five seats in the state assembly. TRS however has 90 Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) following defections.

Telangana will head for assembly polls along with Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan later this year. The state will head to polls on December 7. Counting will happen in all states on December 11.

Seeking early assembly polls, Rao-led TRS had prematurely dissolved the Assembly on September 6. The state election was earlier scheduled to be held along with the Lok Sabha elections in April-May 2019.

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