Three-way contest sharpens in Jubilee Hills as voting day draws near

The Jubilee Hills by-election campaign is intensifying as polling day nears — November 11. With the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) deploying its legislators and corporators to campaign for Congress candidate V. Naveen Yadav, and the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) targeting both parties, the contest has tightened on the ground. Parties are eyeing the Muslim vote, estimated at around 1.4 lakh of the constituency’s little over 4 lakh electors.

BRS workers have begun playing audio clips of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi’s past speeches, including those praising former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and the BRS. The clips are being used during door-to-door campaigning across several neighbourhoods.

In earlier public remarks, Mr. Owaisi had criticised former Jubilee Hills MLA, late Maganti Gopinath, for having done little for the constituency’s development while implicitly supporting Yadav, terming him a “local candidate”. That tacit endorsement has now turned into open support.

On Wednesday, BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao questioned Mr. Owaisi’s decision to back Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, recalling that the AIMIM leader had previously referred to Mr. Reddy as “RSS anna” during the 2023 Assembly campaign. Mr. Rama Rao defended the BRS’ tenure in Jubilee Hills, claiming that projects worth ₹5,328 crore were executed during Gopinath’s term as MLA.

Meanwhile, Mr.Revanth Reddy drew criticism for remarks made at a public meeting on Tuesday, where he said, “If the Congress exists, Muslims exist. If the Congress exists, you have dignity. If there is no Congress, you are not there.”

The comments triggered criticism from several quarters, including the BRS. Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan here, Telangana government adviser Mohammad Ali Shabbir, accompanied by Minister for Minorities Welfare Mohammed Azharuddin, clarified that the Chief Minister’s comments were meant to highlight the Congress party’s historic association with and affinity for the Muslim community. Citing the freedom movement, he said members of the Jamiat-ul-Ulama had worked alongside Congress leaders during the Independence struggle.

In a separate development on Wednesday, AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, speaking at the party headquarters in Darussalam, said that irrespective of the party is in power, the AIMIM is equipped to get work done. He maintained that while certain sections perceive the AIMIM as approaching parties in power, it was the other way round.