Hyderabad, May 11: A total of 10 Muslim candidates are in fray on the tickets of ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) or main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections.
YSRCP led by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has fielded seven Muslim candidates, the highest ever in the state’s history.
The TDP headed by former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has given tickets to three Muslims.
YSRCP claims to be the only party which is giving even political reservation to the Muslim community. While defending four percent reservation for Muslims in jobs and education, Jagan Mohan Reddy said they gave four percent of 175 Assembly seats to Muslims.
In 2019 when YSRCP stormed to power with a landslide majority, four Muslims were elected to the state Assembly on its tickets. It had fielded five Muslim candidates.
Jagan Mohan Reddy had made one of the elected MLAs Shaik Amjad Basha Deputy Chief Minister. The YSRCP has once again fielded Amjad Basha from Kadapa constituency. He is seeking re-election for a third consecutive term.
Kadapa constituency in Jagan Mohan Reddy’s home district of YSR Kadapa has been electing Muslim candidates since 1994. S.A. Khaleel Basha of TDP was elected in 1994 and 1999 while Congress party’s Ahmadullah Mohammad was elected in 2004 and 2009.
In Kurnool, the YSRCP has denied renomination to sitting MLA Hafeez Khan and has fielded AMD Imtiaz, an IAS officer who took voluntary retirement to join the ruling party in February.
A state-cadre IAS officer of 2009 batch, Imtiaz hails from Kurnool, which has a sizable Muslim population. He had topped Group-I examination and opted for the commercial taxes department.
Imtiaz has been serving as additional chief commissioner of land administration for the last one year.
Known in bureaucratic circles for his humble nature and honesty, Imtiaz had been active in public service through their family managed trust.
His father-in-law Dr KM Ismail Hussain was known as a ‘2 rupee’ doctor in Kurnool. The doctor who charged patients only Rs.2 succumbed to Covid-19 in 2020.
Jagan Mohan Reddy took another big decision to field Mohammad Khaleel Ahmed as the YSRCP candidate from Nellore city constituency. He is the first Muslim candidate from the constituency since its formation in 1952.
Muslims constitute about 20-25 percent of the population in Nellore constituency but they never got a chance to contest.
YSRCP denied a ticket to sitting MLA Mohammad Mustafa from Guntur East and fielded Shaik Noori Fathima. In this constituency, which has been electing Muslim MLA since early 1980s, the TDP has given ticket to Mohammad Nazeer. Interestingly, Congress party has also fielded a Muslim candidate Shaik Mastan Vali, who was elected on Congress ticket in 2009.
In another bold move, Jagan Mohan Reddy fielded Shaik Asif from Vijayawada West against former MP and BJP candidate Sujana Chowdary. In 2019, YSRCP had given ticket to Vellampalli Srinivas while TDP had fielded Shabana Musarat Khatoon. She lost to Srinivas by a margin of 7,671 votes. This time, TDP has left this seat for its ally BJP.
The TDP has fielded former minister N.M.D. Farooq from Nandyal constituency. He was elected from here thrice in the past. The senior leader served as deputy speaker of the Assembly and a minister in united Andhra Pradesh.
In Madanapalle constituency, the YSRCP has not given ticket to sitting MLA Mohammed Nawaz Basha. This time it has fielded Nisar Ahmed. M. Shahjahan Basha is the TDP candidate here. He was earlier elected from here as Congress candidate in 2009.
From Kadiri constituency, the YSRCP has fielded B.S. Maqbool Ahmed in place of sitting MLA P. Venkata Sidda Reddy. This is the second time that YSRCP has given Kadiri ticket to a Muslim. In 2014, Attar Chand Basha was elected from here.
Both YSRCP and TDP have not fielded any Muslim candidate in Lok Sabha polls. Elections to all 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state are scheduled along with Assembly polls on May 13.
The Congress party has fielded 13 candidates in Assembly elections and two candidates for Lok Sabha polls. However, the grand old party has weakened in the state after drawing a blank in 2014 and 2019 polls due to public anger over the division of Andhra Pradesh.
