The Telangana BJP has complained to the chief electoral officer (CEO) that induction of former cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin into the state cabinet was a violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by the ruling Congress party as it was aimed at wooing a section of the voters in the Jubilee Hills constituency before bypoll.
Azharuddin is expected to take the oath tomorrow, adding to the much-needed social balance in Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s cabinet, which, at present, does not have a single minority representative.
In a complaint submitted to the CEO, the saffron party said that the ruling party was keen on accommodating Azharuddin in the cabinet at this juncture with “malafide” intentions. In a letter to the CEO, the deputy floor leader of the BJP Legislative Party, Payal Shanker, said his ministerial berth was actually an attempt “to woo and garner the votes of a section of the voters in the upcoming Jubilee Hills bye-elections”. The party called it a blatant violation of the MCC even though the code did not apply to the entire city.
The BJP further said that the induction or announcement of the induction would be an attempt to influence the outcome of the by-election of the constituency. The letter also pointed out that Mohammad Azharuddin had contested as a candidate from the Jubilee Hills constituency in the assembly elections held in 2023.
Election to Jubilee Hills has seen all three parties vying with each other and leaving no stone unturned to win the seat. For Chief Minister Reddy and the Congress, it is a prestige contest while for the BRS, it is a fight to hold on to its votebank in the city, particularly after its dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections and its recent setbacks and internal strife. The BJP too wants to romp home, taking advantage of a split in minority votes between the Congress and BRS, to prove its relevance in the state politics.
There are more than one lakh minority voters in the constituency, but the Congress cannot afford to take them for granted especially after AIMIM announced its support for its candidate.