Former cricketer Azharuddin to match-up with Owaisi in Hyderabad

Former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin is likely to be fielded by Congress for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat to take on the All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) strongman and a three-time MP Asaduddin Owaisi.

The Hyderabadi batsman is among the candidates shortlisted by the Telangana Congress unit. The list is being sent to the central leadership to finalize candidates, party sources said. Azharuddin (56), a former MP from Muradabad in Uttar Pradesh, was made the working president of Telangana Congress in November last year and had extensively campaigned for the party in the December assembly elections.

Hyderabad has been an impregnable fortress for AIMIM which has been winning the seat for over three decades now. Owaisi, who is the president of AIMIM, has been representing the constituency since 2004 while his father Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi had won the seat six times from 1984 to 1999.

The AIMIM, a formidable political force in the Muslim-dominated old Hyderabad areas with seven MLAs in the 119-member Telangana assembly, is an ally of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) headed by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. The ruling party has decided not to field any candidate against Owaisi.

The Telangana Congress leaders hope that Azharuddin, the local cricket hero who had captained the Hyderabad team before making it to the national squad, would be an ideal candidate to take on Owaisi and has the potential to end the AIMIM’s domination in the capital city.

Azhar had unsuccessfully contested Tonk-Sawai Madhopur seat in Rajasthan in the 2014 elections.

The shortlisted Congress candidates also include former union minister Renuka Chowdhury, P Sudhakar Reddy and V Hanumantha Rao who have been proposed for Khammam Lok Sabha. The AICC spokesperson Madhu Yashki Goud’s name has been proposed for  Nizamabad seat.

The sitting MPs Nandi Yellaiah and K Visweswar Reddy have been asked to contest from their constituencies – Nagar Kurnool and Chevella respectively.

Senior party leaders like S Jaipal Reddy, A Revanth Reddy and Damodara Raja Narasimha have opted out of contest this time.