Vote to TRS is vote to BJP, Rahul to tell Muslims

​Hyderabad: After setting its eyes on Muslim votes, the Congress has lined up three public meetings on October 20 for AICC president Rahul Gandhi to address at Charminar in Hyderabad, Kamareddy and Bhainsa where Muslims are substantial in number.

According to party leaders, the Congress would try to drive home the point that a vote to Telangana Rashtra Samiti would be a vote to BJP. The TRS would help the BJP in next Parliament elections to win maximum seats in Telangana by having an alliance with it.

The party would try to tell it through Rahul Gandhi to convince the Muslims on that issue. Along with this it would also raise the unkept promises on 12 per cent reservations to minorities and others.

According to the Congress, the Muslims are in big numbers in Hyderabad, erstwhile Mahbubnagar, Adilabad, Warangal and Nizamabad districts. They would tilt the scales in as many as 30 Assembly constituencies. Analysts believe that their apathy towards the Congress in the previous elections has led to its defeat.

In Nizamabad (urban), Muslims voters are about 34.7 per cent of the electorate. In the previous Assembly elections AIMIM got second place with 31,648 votes. The TRS won with 40,947 votes and BJP ended third with 27,982 votes. The Congress was in fourth place with 25,400 votes.

In Hyderabad, in the constituencies like Malakpet, Karwan, Goshamahal, Charimnar, Chandrayangutta, Yakutpura, Bahadurpura, and Nampally Muslims voters are between 90 per cent and 30 per cent. Apart from them Zaheerabad, Rajendranagar and Bodhan have more than 25 per cent Muslim votes. In another 20 constituencies they form about 20 per cent total electorate.

As per the 2011 census, Muslims constitute 12.68 per cent of Telangana's population with a sizeable presence in five of the 10 old districts or 35 out of 119 Assembly constituencies. In 2014 Assembly elections, AIMIM had contested 35 seats in the undivided Andhra Pradesh including 20 in Telangana. 

It achieved a vote share of 1.52 per cent across undivided Andhra Pradesh and it had garnered around 12.42 per cent votes share in the 35 seats it had contested. In Telangana it has relegated Congress to the fourth place in several constituencies.

The Congress has learnt lessons from the previous elections and has focused on the Muslim voters. They strongly believe that presence of MIM in the fray would cause damage and wants to control it as much as possible. The Congress is trying to show that MIM was siding with the TRS and the ruling party was a secret friend of the BJP. By taking this into the Muslims strongly it wants to free Muslims from MIM as well as the TRS' hold.