Hyderabad MP and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi indirectly sought votes for candidates representing the INDIA bloc in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He appealed to AIMIM supporters in various constituencies where AIMIM is not contesting to vote for Congress candidates to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), stopping short of actually naming the candidates and the Congress. 

Addressing an election rally in Khilwat, Owaisi referred to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao as ‘Mamu’ and said that this election was not about him but to remove Prime Minister Narendra Modi from power.

“If you don't understand this, let me make it clear. Make the fat man (Congress candidate Danam Nagendra) in Secunderabad, the one with lots of white hair (Congress candidate Jeevan Reddy) win in Nizamabad, the thin one (Dr Ranjit Reddy) in Chevella. Have you understood? Kite in Hyderabad, BJP finished in Telangana. People of Majlis and people of Mahabubnagar, Chevellla, Secunderabad, Malkajgiri, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, and Adilabad, should vote for the defeat of BJP,” he said.

Earlier, the United Muslim Forum (UMF) appealed to Muslims in Hyderabad to support Asaduddin Owaisi who is seeking re-election for a fifth consecutive term, and also announced its support for Congress in the remaining 16 constituencies in Telangana. UMF said that it decided to back Congress to battle communal forces and support a national party in the Lok Sabha polls. 

All 17 parliamentary seats in Telangana will go to polls on May 13. In 2019, BRS won nine of the total seats, BJP won four seats, Congress won three and AIMIM won the Hyderabad seat, from where Owaisi was elected.