Hyderabad: Charminar segment continues to be MIM’s invincible fortress

Hyderabad: The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) sits strong in its bastion Charminar Assembly constituency as no political party comes near its popularity in the Old City of Hyderabad. Irrespective of the candidates, the MIM party has been maintaining its dominance with its densely populated minority community.

The Charminar constituency has over 2 lakh electors and presently comprises the neighbourhoods including Charminar, Purana Pul, Lad Bazaar, Moghalpura, Khilwat, Chaderghat, Lal Darwaza.

Though no other party can dominate the MIM, however, in last assembly elections, the MIM re-nominated all its seven legislators and swapped the Charminar seat with Mumtaz Ahmed Khan and Syed Ahmed Pasha Quadri. Pasha Quadri who was the MLA of the Charminar constituency for three terms from 2004-2018 changed the constituency to Yakutpura constituency.

The constituency has been in the MIM's court since 1989 with the winning by Virasat Rasool Khan. Whereas earlier in 1967, Sultan Salauddin Owaisi, as an independent candidate won the seat and was the MLA for three terms.

Later, MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi won two terms from 1994 to 2004 from Charminar with higher majority of votes, and Pasha Qaudri for three terms before swapping with Mumtaz Khan in 2018. However, this year too there would be a chance of re-nominating the seat with different candidates.

MIM is said to win in the Charminar constituency irrespective of candidate as no other party reached closer to the MIM’s candidate in terms of votes. In the last two terms of the Assembly elections, in 2014, Pasha Quadri won 62,941 votes with total turnout 57.6 per cent and TDP candidate MA Basith stood second by 26,326 votes with 24.1 per cent.

While in 2018, MIM candidate Mumtaz Khan won 53,808 votes with 53.36 per cent, and BJP stood second with T Uma Mahendra with 21,222 votes with 21.04 per cent, and INC candidate Mohd Ghouse sealed 16,899 votes with 16.76 per cent.

Mohd Ghouse who returned to MIM during Municipal elections, her wife from MIM, won the seat from Ghansi Bazar division in 2020 GHMC elections. As MIM aspires to double its MLA tally and the party announced that they will contest for more seats, Ghouse who is the active member in the constituency has the chances to fight election from Charminar.

Moreover, as per sources, the Charminar constituency would be seeing new candidates in upcoming assembly elections. As the MIM has been strong since decades, the party would be swapping the candidates to Charminar, or Nooruddin Owaisi, son of party’s floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi would be the new candidate from Charminar. It is said that Nooruddin would be following the poll path of Sultan Salauddin Owaisi and Asaduddin Owaisi who dominated the Charminar seat earlier with majority of votes. Though other parties could not defeat the MIM in Charminar for decades, no other party candidate would be ready to face challenges and parties would be standing their dummy candidates in the constituency.