Will the Majlis spring an electoral surprise this time? The answer is in the affirmative if the party’s upbeat mood is anything to go by. It is confident of wresting the Jubilee Hills and Rajendernagar Assembly seats in the city apart from the Nizamabad seat. A day after the polls, Majlis president Asaduddin Owaisi exuded confidence that his party would increase its tally to 10.
“We will retain the existing seven seats and are hopeful of adding three more,” he remarked.
The Majlis is not worried about the low percentage of polling in the city. In absolute terms, it feels, the number of votes polled have gone up by 2.27 lakh in the Hyderabad parliamentary constituency as compared to 2009. This is expected to benefit the Majlis’ prospects. Heavy voter turnout is usually seen as an indication of anti-incumbency factor. Since the city experienced moderate polling it is construed that voters are not unhappy with the Majlis’ performance. The party feels diversion of minority votes to other parties could be much less this time unlike in 2009 when the grand alliance of TDP, CPI, CPI(M) and TRS chipped away about 30 per cent votes.
Sources say a photo finish will occur in Jubilee Hills and Rajendernagar Assembly constituencies where the Majlis has put up a spirited fight. “We will get good number of votes of the majority community here as there is a resentment against the local MLAs,” Mr. Asaduddin said. He doesn’t think the Majlis will have any problem in Yakutpura and Nampally segments either. The Majlis leader refuses to go into minute calculations. “We have done our best. Even during my student days I used to write the exam and forget the result,” he remarked. He predicts an upper hand for TRS in Telangana region. “But whoever forms the government has to deliver the goods and fast. Otherwise people will throw them out,” he warns.
Mr. Asaduddin, who is rushing to Anantapur to campaign for the party candidate, is sure of YSRC sweeping the polls in Seemandhra. He said AAP would play spoilsport by cutting into the votes of secular parties. Will Narendra Modi become Prime Minister? “I don’t think so. If he occupies the top job, it would not be good for what India stands for,” he added.
