HYDERABAD: If the AIMIM had in someway faltered during the Assembly elections, its chief Asaduddin Owaisi made sure that the issues got addressed before the Lok Sabha elections. A look at the votes polled for the party in the seven Assembly constituencies that form Hyderabad LS segment across three elections — 2014 LS, 2018 Assembly and 2019 LS — shows that AIMIM improved its tally in each Assembly constituency.
For instance, in the Assembly elections, its Malakpet candidate Ahmed Bin Abdullah Balala secured 53,281 votes. In the Lok Sabha elections, thanks to Owaisi’s extensive campaigning, the number increased to 60,592 as Owaisi polled a total of 5.17 lakh votes to retain the Hyderabad.
The maximum increase, however, was seen in Yakutpura Assembly segment. Syed Ahmed Pasha Quadri had garnered 69,595 votes in the State polls, but the number went up to 80,503 votes in the LS polls.
In Charminar, in fact, the party saw a gradual drop in votes in 2014 LS and 2018 Assembly polls, with Owaisi getting 64,506 votes in the former and Mumtaz Ahmed Khan garnering 53,808 votes in the latter. But Owaisi’s work ensured that the party polled 57,259 votes this time around.
Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency includes Malakpet, Karwan, Goshamahal, Charminar, Chandrayangutta, Yakutpura and Bahadurpura. Of the seven, only Goshamahal has a Hindu majority-electorate, and that is reflected in the results.
It is the only Assembly constituency in which AIMIM has come second in the Lok Sabha elections. Owaisi secured only 28,275 votes against BJP’s candidate Bhagavanth Rao whose tally was at 83,025.
However, Rao, who had also run against Owaisi in the 2014 LS elections, saw a decrease in the votes from this particular constituency. While in 2014, Rao secured 1.02 lakh votes from Goshamahal, in 2019 it decreased to 83,025.