TRS makes inroads in old city; MIM jittery

A recent survey reveals that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao is more popular among the Muslim minority than MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi

Hyderabad: A survey by the minority leaders in the old city of Hyderabad seems to have left the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) in jittery as Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has surpassed the MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi in terms of popularity in the survey. Chandrashekar Rao is leading with 54 per cent while Asaduddin Owaisi has only 44 per cent.

According to party sources, recently the minority leaders met the Chief Minister in Pragathi Bhavan and disclosed that with the popular schemes, the MIM leaders in old city were facing the heat and if the Chief Minister contested from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha, he would give the senior Owaisi a good run for his money.

“The minority leaders said that the Chief Minister had brought many popular schemes like Shaadi Mubarak, residential schools, overseas education assistance and many other populist schemes and the Muslims in old city now see the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) as an alternative to the Majlis,” said a senior party leader.

The TRS leader said that even the MIM leaders too felt that the popularity of the Chief Minister was rising in the Old City. “The MIM leaders, during an interaction with the Chief Minister, in fact said that they were facing the challenge and they would have alliance with our party in the next elections,” said the TRS leader.

In the recent times, the MIM leaders had praised Chandrashekar Rao for his programmes for the people and also for the minorities.

MIM leader in Assembly Akbaruddin Owaisi said in the Assembly that the TRS and the MIM were going to win the next elections. He also said that the Chief Minister’s post was too small for a personality like Chandrashekar Rao. “Whatever we have asked for was given by the TRS government. There are 200 residential schools for Muslims in Telangana which are nowhere in the county,” said Akbaruddin Owaisi in the Assembly.

The TRS leader says that the performance of the party in the GHMC elections was the cause of concern for the Majlis. The TRS was second in many seats in old city and the party candidate in Jambagh segment had lost with a margin of just five votes.

This showed the party was giving a tough time to the Majlis, said the TRS leader. “The MIM leader earlier said that the car steering (TRS symbol) was in his hands but now the threads of the kite (MIM symbol) was in KCR sir’s hands,” he said.

Deputy Mayor Baba Fasiuddin told Hans India that the TRS was gaining popularity in the old city. Earlier, the governments never bothered even to look at old city and never allocated funds for the people in the area, but the TRS government had brought numerous programmes, which were being utilised by the poor minority sections, he said and added that the schemes like pensions, Shaadi Mubarak, residential schools, Iftars, Rs 20 lakh loan assistance to the students etc would ensure TRS penetration in the old city.