Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) retained the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat as the party President Asaduddin Owaisi emerged victorious with a record margin of over 3.38 lakh votes.
Owaisi defeated his nearest rival Kompella Madhavi Latha of BJP by 3,38,087 votes to record his fifth consecutive victory.
It was projected by many as a close contest but it turned out to be one-sided. Owaisi polled 6,61,981 votes while Madhavi Latha secured 3,23,894 votes.
Mohammed Waliullah Sameer of Congress finished a poor third with 62,962 votes. Gaddam Srinivas Yadav of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) polled 18,641 votes.
Owaisi’s victory margin is the highest-ever in this constituency, considered a stronghold of AIMIM. The party has never lost an election from here since 1984.
The AIMIM Chief had won the seat in 2019 by a margin of 2,82,187 votes against Bhagvanth Rao of BJP. The difference between the same rivals in 2014 was 2.02 lakh votes.
This time, the contest had drawn national attention with the BJP fielding Madhavi Latha, an entrepreneur and classical dancer.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had also campaigned in the constituency in support of Madhavi Latha. Another central minister Anurag Singh Thakur had also held a roadshow in the constituency.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had addressed a public meeting in Hyderabad in support of BJP candidates for Hyderabad, Secunderabad and surrounding constituencies.
In April, Prime Minister Modi had showered praise on Madhavi Latha. He was impressed by the points she raised during the programme ‘Aap Ki Adalat’ on a television channel.
The BJP candidate had sparked a row with her controversial gesture during a religious procession ahead of the elections.
The police had booked her for hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims for her provocative gesture during Ram Navami procession. She had pretended to shoot an arrow towards a mosque during the procession.
Madhavi Latha had also sparked a controversy on the polling day (May 13) with her action at a polling station. She had asked some burka-clad Muslim women voters to show their faces. Police had booked her under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and section 132 of the Representation of People Act.
Asaduddin Owaisi thanked the people of Hyderabad for the party’s historic win. “I would like to thank people, especially women, youth, first-time voters and elderly,” he said.
Asaduddin Owaisi’s father late Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi was elected from Hyderabad six times. In 1996, he had defeated BJP’s senior leader M. Venkaiah Naidu, who later became Vice President of India.
Salahuddin Owaisi opted out in 2004 due to ill-health and since then Asaduddin Owaisi has been representing the constituency.
The delimitation of constituencies in 2008 helped the party further consolidate itself. As three urban Assembly segments replaced the rural segments which were earlier part of Hyderabad parliamentary constituency, AIMIM became virtually invincible.
The party’s strength in the Assembly also rose to seven, from its earlier highest tally of five.
In the Assembly elections held in November 2023, the AIMIM retained all seven seats. Six of these segments come under the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency.
–IANS