The Telangana PCC is planning to offer close to ten Muslim candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls. This is in contrast to the ruling BRS party, which only named three candidates, including two in the Old City. The Congress party wants to increase its vote share and test the waters before the general elections.
Party sources say that most Congress Muslim candidates are expected to win seats in the Assembly polls. The party aims to increase its vote share before the general elections and tap into more votes. They also plan to shift their strategy in the Old City by focusing more on Hindu votes, which have been shifting to the BJP in recent years. There is a proposal to give a ticket to a leader from the Shia community in Yakutpura to gain support from that community.
The screening committee for Telangana held discussions with the District Congress Committees’ presidents to short-list candidates. They considered factors such as the potential of the candidates to win, their financial strengths, and religious and caste equations of different seats. The committee will continue deliberations before finalizing the candidates.
One of their priorities is to target Hindu votes, which used to support the party in the past. They plan to field a Hindu candidate in Bahadurpura to increase their vote share. They hope this will make the contest with Asaduddin Owaisi more challenging during the Parliament elections.
