Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president, Amit Shah is making all effort to defeat All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and MP Asaduddin Owaisi in Hyderabad. The approach to beat Owaisi is a part of Shah’s “Mission 2019”.
Shah is developing a plan to win a bulk of Assembly and Lok Sabha seats in Telangana that includes Hyderabad parliamentary constituency of Owaisi. The BJP is planning to win 80 out of total 119 Assembly seats and 15 out of 17 Lok Sabha constituencies. One of the major tasks before BJP is to beat Owaisi, the three-time LS member from Hyderabad.
According to Telangana BJP spokesperson, Krishna Sagar Rao, BJP’s central unit is making a plan internally to defeat Owaisi. The BJP hopes to see a repeat of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls where the party won seats in constituencies with noteworthy Muslim population.
“The alternative is what we have achieved in Uttar Pradesh,” he said. He noted that BJP’s striking performance in Deoband and other constituencies with significant Muslim population saying “Something similar is going to happen (in Hyderabad). We will emerge as a clear alternative to Asaduddin Owaisi and voters of all the seven Assembly segments (where AIMIM has MLAs) will clearly understand that alternative is going to win and they will vote for us. That’s the plan.”
The BJP will present itself as a better alternative. “We are working on the anti-incumbency of Asaduddin Owaisi. We strongly believe that voters of the Old city (a stronghold of AIMIM) are hostage to AIMIM. They don’t have a choice and if they are given a clear-cut choice, the entire seven Assembly segments (where AIMIM has MLAs) will vote for that alternative,” Rao said.
To beat Owaisi, BJP may field a tall leader in Hyderabad. “Plan (to beat Owaisi) could be anything…ranging from fielding one of the tall leaders of BJP from elsewhere to anything else. That could be one of the plans,” Rao said.
