The Chief Minister of Hyderabad, K Chandrashekar Rao, has announced a friendly alliance with the AIMIM party for the upcoming Assembly elections. This alliance is expected to have a significant impact on the political equations in various districts. The Chief Minister aims to mobilize the support of Muslim voters with the help of MIM in districts. In return, the BRS will support MIM in its strongholds, particularly in the Old City.
The MIM has a strong presence in many urban-dominated Assembly segments. The Chief Minister’s decision to align with MIM is part of his strategy to consolidate Muslim voter support in the elections. Muslim religious organizations have shown their support to BRS after the government announced various benefits for the welfare of the Muslim community and an increase in the honorarium of Muslim clerics.
There was a concern about the Muslim vote bank shifting to the Congress, but the Chief Minister’s recent announcement of Rs 1 lakh assistance to poor Muslims received widespread applause from the community. The support from MIM will further strengthen BRS’s appeal to Muslim voters. Several assembly segments, such as Nalgonda, Nizamabad (Urban), Khammam town, and Mahbubnagar, have a Muslim population of over 30 percent. In more than 30 poll-bound Assembly segments in districts, Muslim voters make up more than 20 percent of the population.
In the 2018 Assembly elections, Muslims, who constituted about 10 percent of the total voters in the state, gave their mandate to BRS. As a result, the party won 89 seats with over 45 percent of the total vote share in the state. To secure another landslide victory in the 2023 Assembly elections, KCR aims to obtain Muslim support for BRS. He plans to hold special meetings with Muslims in every Assembly segment during the election period.
BRS will also assist MIM in Nampally and Goshamahal segments, where the opposition Congress and BJP are strong. The Chief Minister has postponed announcing BRS candidates’ names in these segments until an understanding is reached with Owaisi and the party leadership.
