Mohammad Azharuddin
Credit: PTI Photo
Hyderabad: Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin will be inducted into the Telangana cabinet on Friday. His inclusion comes ahead of the November 11 bypoll to the Jubilee Hills constituency, where more than 1.2 lakh Muslim voters are expected to play a decisive role.
Azharuddin will be the only minority representative in Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s cabinet. The opposition BRS has repeatedly accused the Congress government of ignoring Muslim representation and welfare, pointing to the absence of any Muslim minister for the past 22 months.
Azharuddin had contested from the same Jubilee Hills seat in the 2023 Assembly elections but lost to the BRS candidate, Maganti Gopinath, securing 35.03% of the votes. To facilitate his entry into the cabinet, the state government has decided to nominate him to the Legislative Council under the Governor’s quota, along with Prof Kodandaram.
Following Gopinath’s recent death, there had been speculation that Azharuddin might be fielded again by the Congress in the upcoming bypoll. However, with his nomination to the Legislative Council confirmed, he has been ruled out as a candidate for the bypoll. Instead, the Congress has chosen Naveen Yadav to contest the seat. A formal nomination to the upper house of the state legislature is pending with the governor Jishnu Dev Verma.
Sources in Congress party said Azharuddin will play a key role in campaigning in Muslim-dominated areas of the Jubilee Hills constituency to bolster the Congress vote bank.
However, the BJP has strongly objected to his induction, alleging it violates the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). “After losing the previous election as a Congress candidate, Azharuddin is now being hastily appointed as a minister. For the past 22 months, there hasn’t been even one minority representative in the cabinet. If Congress truly cared about minority welfare, it would have given representation earlier. Doing this just before the elections clearly shows their intent. Appointing someone as a minister while the election code of conduct is in force is illegal. To appease minority voters, the Congress is blatantly violating the code and using ministerial posts as political incentives,” said Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy on Thursday.
The BJP also filed a formal complaint with the State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). “This proposal is clearly aimed at influencing a particular section of voters in the upcoming Jubilee Hills bypoll. It is an outright violation of the Model Code of Conduct. Even though the MCC may not technically apply to the entire city of Hyderabad, the Chief Minister’s announcement will directly impact the constituency where elections are due. It is important to note that Mohammad Azharuddin had contested from Jubilee Hills in the 2023 Assembly polls. We, therefore, request immediate action to withdraw this politically motivated announcement,” said BJP State Election Affairs Committee Chairman Marri Sasidhar Reddy in his complaint to the CEO.