Hyderabad: The United Muslim Federation has urged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to select a Muslim candidate for the Congress Party in the upcoming Jubilee Hills Assembly by-election. They believe that combined support from Muslim and secular voters could lead to a decisive win for the Congress.
Federation President Khairuddin Sufi highlighted that former cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin narrowly lost the last election despite strong backing. He mentioned that a Muslim candidate on a Congress ticket this time could secure victory with unified community support.
The Federation pointed out that Jubilee Hills has over 1.5 lakh Muslim voters, making up a large part of the constituency. They offered to provide transport for women and elderly voters on election day if their request is granted.
Speakers also mentioned the Chief Minister’s previous comments at an Urdu Academy event, where he expressed concern about the lack of Muslim representation in the cabinet. The Federation wants him to address this by ensuring fair representation in Jubilee Hills. They criticized Mohammed Azharuddin being nominated to the Legislative Council, suggesting he should run for the by-election instead. They encouraged him to reject the MLC post and compete in Jubilee Hills.
Representatives like Anwar Khan, Maulana Hamid Hussain Shattari, M A Siddiqui, Sanaullah Khan, and Shakeel warned that ignoring Muslim representation could have broader impacts across Telangana. They noted that with a 10 percent reservation, over 1,500 Muslim candidates could succeed in future Panchayat and Zilla Parishad elections, emphasizing the need for political inclusion. They announced that an all-party group would soon meet the Chief Minister to formally request a ticket for a Muslim candidate.
