Hyderabad, Mar 10: In what may turn out to be one of the most interesting poll contests in 2014, the Congress might field former cricketer Md Azharuddin against MIM's Asaduddin Owaisi from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency.
The MIM and Congress have fallen apart of recent, and its president Asaduddin has taken on chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy after dubbing him as communal. The move to pit Azhar against his friend Asaduddin is Kiran Kumar Reddy's move to get back at the MIM, said sources. Incidentally, the CM and Azhar too are good friends from their cricketing days.
Azhar met Kiran Kumar Reddy at the AP Bhavan in Delhi on Saturday. "I do have interest in AP politics," the former Hyderabadi cricketer told the media after the meeting. When asked if he would contest from Hyderabad on the Congress ticket, Azhar said: "It all depends on the Congress high command." Azhar was all praise for the chief minister's performance, but feigned ignorance about the falling out between the Congress and MIM. According to the sources, the CM took time out of his busy scheduled to meet Azhar, thus making it clear that it was a significant meeting.
Azharuddin, who was banned from playing cricket for India after his alleged involvement in the match-fixing cases, joined the Congress just before the 2009 elections and won with a thumping majority from Moradabad Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Recently, a city court had set aside the life ban imposed on Azhar by the Board of Control for Cricket in India .
The CM's game plan, according to the sources, is to cut the MIM to size in Old City, its bastion, by fielding the cricketer-turned-politician.
"Kiran wants to disprove Asaduddin's remark that it was the Congress that benefitted from associating with the MIM, and prove that it was other way round. In what appears to have become a personal war, Kiran wants to prove that minus the Congress, MIM would not get more than two seats in the Assembly," a close aide of Kiran Kumar told STOI.
If Azhar does end up as the Congress candidate from Hyderabad constituency, the going will not be easy for Asaduddin. "If the TDP again fields Zahid Ali Khan, the Muslim votes will get split and it will not be
easy for the MIM to retain the seat. And the BJP too can add to the MIM's discomfiture by fielding a Hindu candidate. Azhar's entry should be a wake up call for the MIM," said the sources. Analysts believe that it was Owaisi who ensured that Azhar did not contest Lok Sabha from Andhra Pradesh in 2009 and had him dispatched to UP.
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