BJP unleashes Urdu-speaking Hindu activist to capture Owaisi bastion

BJP’s dream

It has been the Bharatiya Janata Party’s dream to snatch Hyderabad from the pincer-like grip of the AIMIM which has held the seat since 1984 when Asaduddin’s father Salahuddin Owaisi won it for the first time. The BJP could not wrest the seat even when stalwarts like M Venkaiah Naidu contested.

It appears that the increased activity of the Sangh Parivar in the Old City area has only helped AIMIM to consolidate its influence among Muslims in Hyderabad further. No wonder, Owaisi’s winning margin soared in 2019 (282,186) compared to 2014’s 202,454.

Modi admirer

Asked how she has come into contact with the BJP, Madhavi Latha avoids a direct answer by stating that "not working under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi now is tantamount to a sin".

Though Madhavi Latha has never been an active politician, she talks like a Sangh Parivar veteran. She proudly says her entry into politics has a three-fold agenda: changing the name of Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar; winning from Hyderabad and presenting it as a gift to Ayodhya Ram; and to develop the Old City on the line of other parts of cosmopolitan Hyderabad.

“When names of many cities across the world are changed, why not Hyderabad?” she asks. “The original name of the city ought to be restored,” she says, stating that clinging to Hyderabad has buried the glorious past of Bhagyanagar.

“Charminar, a mere 400-year-old structure, is shown as the symbol of Hyderabad ignoring the temples with much more antiquity. Bhagyanagar is the treasure trove of temples built during the era of Chola dynasty,” she says.

Charity and Muslims

Madhavi Latha said her living in a posh Hyderabad locality has not taken her away from the Old City where she was born.

The activities of her two trusts, Lopamudra Trust and Latha Ma Trust, and her campaign against triple talaq coupled with assistance provided to Muslim destitute has been well received by poor Muslims, especially women, she claims.

Her activities include conducting healthcare camps and distributing ration to the poor. “A missed phone call is enough, the assistance will reach the doorsteps of the needy,” she says.

“I have been working in these narrow lanes and by-lanes of Old City for many years. Poverty, child labour and lack of development are all-pervading. The call to take a plunge into politics came from the people when I was wading through the squalor. I started thinking about their request six months ago. I realized the limitations of charitable trusts. I thought I needed more power to address these issues. Politics is the only source of that kind of power,” she told a TV channel.

Blaming the AIMIM for the problems of the Old City, the articulate Madhavi Latha accuses Asaduddin Owaisi of never caring to address the problems of poverty and poor civic amenities. “Many areas in the constituency do not have even street lights.”

Confident Latha

A post-graduate in political science from Koti Women’s College, she is in great demand to deliver dharmic discourses in Telugu states. “I am on a mission to propagate Dharmabaddha Palana (Dharmic Rule). Pursuing Sanatana Dharma alone promises a corruption-free governance,” she says.

Talking to The Federal, Madhavi Latha said ‘Rakshasa Samharam’ (slaying of demon) in Old City had begun.

“A realization that they had been made pawns in the blood-soaked communal politics of AIMIM has dawned on the Muslims. It is the beginning of the end,” she said and hoped she would achieve the unthinkable.

Hyderabad’s demography

But veteran commentator Syed Aminul Hasan Jafri says it is second to impossible to wrest the seat from the AIMIM in Hyderabad given the high-profile and sprawling constituency’s demographic profile.

“The delimitation of constituencies in 2009 has permanently altered the constituency in AIMIM’s favour. Now following the separation of rural areas with a majority of Hindu voters out of Hyderabad, Muslims have become a dominant community in six out of seven segments in Hyderabad where their population ranges from 52 to 90 per cent,” he said.

Gosha Mahal segment is the only exception. “So, the more the Hindutva rhetoric, the more the consolidation among the Muslims,” Jafri added.

Woman factor?

“In 2019, a Muslim woman was fielded by the BJP in Chandrayan Gutta (Assembly) against Akbaruddin Owaisi, the younger brother of Asaduddin. She lost the deposit. In the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency, though consolidation of Hindus did take place, it is not comparable to Muslim consolidation which makes a win for AIMIM a foregone conclusion,” he said.

Notwithstanding the AIMIM’s confidence, Madhavi Latha is determined to raise the rhetoric and make Owaisi sweat. Only time will tell if she will succeed or turn out to be another famous loser in Hyderabad.