Published Oct 26, 2026 | 9:40 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 26, 2026 | 9:40 AM
Telangana CM Revanth Reddy and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi.Telangana CM Revanth Reddy and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi. (File Photo | x.com)
Is the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) pursuing the same political line nationally as it does in Telangana?
With Uttar Pradesh heading towards Assembly elections, Asaduddin Owaisi’s campaign raises questions about its implications for Telangana, including the Khairatabad by-election and the next Assembly elections. Will AIMIM’s understanding with the Congress in the Jubilee Hills by-election endure?
Owaisi insists that his party will not settle for merely helping other parties through alliances, demanding instead hissedari, or a share in political power. A Congress leader’s charge that Owaisi advocates a political formula for Muslims elsewhere that he does not practise at home has intensified the debate.
For nearly a decade after Telangana’s formation, AIMIM maintained cordial relations with the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). Following the 2023 Assembly elections, it gradually moved away from the BRS and closer to the Congress. It subsequently supported the Congress in two Assembly by-elections, particularly Jubilee Hills. The Congress eventually won the seat, wresting another constituency from the BRS.
A future by-election in Khairatabad could test this relationship.
The prospect arose after the High Court disqualified Danam Nagender as an MLA in proceedings under the anti-defection law. Separately, a 2024 election petition filed by Congress leader P Vijaya Reddy challenging Nagender’s 2023 election remains pending before the Telangana High Court. The Election Commission says it has put the notification of the by-election on hold till the petition is resolved.
Of the constituency’s approximately 175,000 voters, nearly 50,000 are Muslims. AIMIM’s position could therefore influence the electoral outcome.
AIMIM’s relationship in the state with the Congress has been cyclical. The parties fell out when N Kiran Kumar Reddy was Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh. Following Telangana’s formation, AIMIM developed closer ties with the BRS. Now, after a decade, it has moved towards the Congress again.
Yet Owaisi distinguishes his State-level position from his national politics. At a flyover inauguration in Hyderabad, alongside Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, he clarified that his support was for the Chief Minister, not the Congress. His aggressive campaign against the Congress and its INDIA bloc ally, the Samajwadi Party (SP), in Uttar Pradesh reinforces this distinction.
Owaisi says AIMIM is willing to join opposition parties to prevent the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from securing a third consecutive term. Yet his campaign targets parties whose cooperation could be essential to that objective. Addressing rallies in constituencies such as Matera, Najibabad, Moradabad and Saharanpur, he has criticised the SP and Congress leadership.
He accuses Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi of treating Muslims as vote banks without providing meaningful representation. He argues that Muslims need independent leadership and presents AIMIM as a vehicle for that aspiration. At the same time, he says the party is open to alliances if it receives an equitable share of political representation.
AIMIM leaders contend that opposition parties want Muslim votes but resist the emergence of Muslim leaders. Its Uttar Pradesh chief, Shaukat Ali, has criticised the INDIA bloc for questioning AIMIM’s commitment to defeating the BJP while refusing to allocate it even five seats in Bihar, according to his account. The SP and Congress question whether AIMIM’s electoral interventions ultimately benefit the BJP.
The criticism is particularly pointed in Telangana. If AIMIM seeks to advance Muslim political leadership across India, why does it remain largely confined to Hyderabad’s Old City? Why does it contest only nine of Telangana’s 119 Assembly constituencies? What opportunities does it provide women and young people?
Sameer Waliullah, the Congress in-charge for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency, has accused AIMIM of hypocrisy. If empowering Muslims is its objective, he argues, the party must demonstrate that commitment in Telangana. His criticism challenges the concentration of political authority within a limited leadership structure while ordinary Muslims continue to face poverty, inadequate education, poor healthcare and limited employment opportunities.
Whether these remarks represent an authorised Congress position or an individual intervention remains unclear. Nevertheless, they expose a contradiction AIMIM must address.
Its Uttar Pradesh campaign could also affect its understanding with the Congress in Telangana. Confusion over how to approach AIMIM reportedly persists among Telangana Congress leaders. Party circles suggest that the issue was raised before Rahul Gandhi by AICC in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan, with Rahul favouring the treatment of AIMIM as a political rival. The SP and Congress leaderships in Uttar Pradesh maintain that the INDIA bloc will decide on any arrangement with AIMIM at an appropriate time.
Owaisi’s offer of cooperation in the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections contrasts with AIMIM’s strategy in the 2022 elections in the state. The party contested 90 seats alongside smaller parties outside the INDIA bloc but won none. According to a post-poll CSDS study, 79 per cent of Muslim voters backed the SP, three per cent the Congress and six per cent the Bahujan Samaj Party. AIMIM secured just 0.49 per cent of the overall vote. It won no seats in West Bengal, secured five in Bihar and performed less successfully in Maharashtra’s 2024 Assembly elections than previously.
Whether AIMIM’s national ambitions or immediate political interests will determine its relationship with the Congress in Telangana remains to be seen. The Khairatabad by-election may offer an early indication. Owaisi’s demand for a share in power will carry greater credibility if matched by a willingness to share political space at home.
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(Edited by R Rajesh Kumar.)
