Mirza Riyaz Ul Hassan Effendi
Credit: X/@RiyazEffendi
Hyderabad: AIMIM candidate Mirza Riyaz Ul Hassan Effendi won the Hyderabad Local Authorities MLC elections over BJP candidate N Goutham Rao. The AIMIM candidate won by a margin of 38 votes as he secured 63 votes while the BJP candidate got 25 votes. The polling was conducted on Wednesday with a total of 112 voters. Of these, 88 voters, including ex-officio members, MLAs and others, had exercised their franchise.
BRS corporators and ex-officio members reportedly abstained entirely from the election, following the boycott call issued by the party's central leadership.
The election featured a direct contest between the BJP and AIMIM, as both Congress and BRS decided not to field candidates, citing insufficient numbers. This has become a closely watched electoral battle, with the BJP's chances of securing the seat dependent on cross-voting from BRS and Congress members.
The BRS leadership instructed their members to abstain from voting and issued a whip to enforce this directive. Meanwhile, Congress did not issue an official directive but subtly encouraged its members to support AIMIM.
Of the total 112 votes—including those from ex-officio members such as MPs and MLAs from Hyderabad—AIMIM holds 49 votes, whereas the BJP has only 25 and is heavily relying on cross-voting to overcome this significant gap. It is now understood that Congress votes also went to AIMIM candidate.