While the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) managed to retain the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat with a margin of 2.8 lakh votes, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appeared to hold its fort by securing 2,35,285, despite the party not allying with any other party.
This is the tenth time that the AIMIM, since its revival, won the Hyderabad parliamentary seat, staving off rivals, the TDP and BJP.
In 1984, then MIM president and father of MP-elect Asaduddin Owaisi, Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, entered the poll fray and fought against the TDP and won with a thin margin of 3,481 votes.
Cut to 1991, the BJP emerged as the primary opposition with its leader Baddam Bal Reddy taking the former MIM president head-on as he garnered over 4.54 lakh votes, but lost with a margin of around 39,000.
The BJP continued to field Mr. Reddy till 1999 when he garnered 4.1 lakh votes, but lost with a margin of over 71,000 votes.
Since 2004, the party fielded different candidates. But in 2009, the BJP's former ally, the Telugu Desam Party, emerged as the principal opposition with its candidate, and Siasat Daily editor Zahid Ali Khan, polling 1,94,196 votes and the BJP candidate Satish Agarwal trailing in fourth position with 75,503 votes.
The party then fielded Dr Bhagvanth Rao in 2014 in the hope of a better performance. He polled 3,11,414 votes but there was a yawning gap of 2.02 lakh votes between him and Mr Owaisi.
Speaking about the party's performance, BJP State President K Laxman said, “The votes have gone down due to lower polling percentage as compared to 2014. BJP has committed party cadres and voters in the Old City who are opting for us there. There are a number of issues that are taking place in the Old City as the MIM is always with the ruling party.”
However, a top MIM functionary pointed out that since 2014, the BJP's vote share has dipped by 75,000 votes. “There have been political lightweights. BJP has secured much less than 2014. Also, it was due to the TDP-BJP alliance in 2014 that the BJP candidate got more votes,” he said.
