All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Mirza Rahmat Baig was unanimously elected as Telangana Member of Legislative Council from the Hyderabad local bodies constituency on Monday, February 27. Baig will be replacing ex-MLC Syed Aminul Hasan Jafri, another AIMIM leader who had held the seat for four terms. Jafri’s term will expire with his retirement on May 1, according to Indian Express. The ruling Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) declared its support for AIMIM once again and did not field its own candidate, and the BJP and Congress did not field their candidates. 

With the only other nomination rejected based on technicalities, Baig was declared the winner on the last date for withdrawing nominations on Monday. Baig had also contested in the 2018 Assembly elections from Rajendranagar Assembly constituency in Hyderabad and came in third, after the BRS and TDP candidates. 

Thanking AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, Baig wrote on Twitter: “Alhamdulillah I have been unanimously elected as Telangana Member of Legislative Council. I am grateful to Allah(SWT) for his blessings. I am thankful to Barrister @asadowaisi Sahab, for trusting me, I will do my best to serve the people of Telangana.”

Earlier on Sunday, the AIMIM passed several resolutions at the end of its two-day national conference in Maharashtra's Thane district, including on violence against Muslims and Dalits and demands from some Sangh Parivar segments to make India a 'Hindu Rashtra'. The conference was chaired by AIMIM chief and Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi. Addressing a press conference in Thane, Owaisi said, "One resolution unequivocally condemns the continuing and increasing attacks against Muslims, other minorities and Dalits. It is the duty of the Centre and state governments to ban illegal and criminal organisations that have undertaken a systematic campaign of terror in the garb of cow protection, anti-conversion, 'love jihad', etc."

A resolution passed during the two-day conference condemned several states for enacting ‘Freedom of Religion’ laws to curb religious conversion through fraudulent means, including marriage by harping on "love jihad". Love jihad is a term right-wing activists often use to falsely claim that Muslim men are converting Hindu women to Islam through marriage. "The AIMIM calls for the repeal of such laws that target religious scholars (who solemnise marriages) and interfaith couples," one of the AIMIM resolutions stated.

Owaisi said his party sought a dedicated cell in the Ministry of Home Affairs to track and counter "majoritarian religious radicalisation", while victims of "majoritarian violence", those who have been lynched or killed in the name of Hindutva, must be compensated. Other resolutions included one demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief ministers speak out against hate speeches, while another sought reservations for Muslims on the basis of several commissions that have termed the community as socially, economically and educationally backward, Owaisi said. "Moreover, Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians must be classified as Scheduled Castes and get benefits. The Union government must amend the 1952 Presidential order to remove an unconstitutional religious classification. We are also opposed to the Uniform Civil Code," the Hyderabad MP said.

With PTI inputs