In a major political turn ahead of the Jubilee Hills Assembly byelection, AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi announced that his party would not contest the seat and would instead extend its support to Congress candidate V. Naveen Yadav. The move marks a renewed association with the Congress, thirteen years after AIMIM severed ties with the then Congress-led UPA government in 2012 following the controversy over the renovation of the Bhagyalakshmi Temple at Charminar, Hyderabad.
Owaisi attended Naveen’s nomination event, embraced him warmly, and publicly extended his support.
Following that split, AIMIM remained an unofficial ally of the BRS for nearly a decade, maintaining proximity to the party while it held power in Telangana and shared the corridors of governance. Now, with the Congress back in power, Owaisi’s latest stance — seen in his growing bonhomie with Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, signals a clear shift and an end to AIMIM’s long-standing understanding with the BRS.
While @SupriyaShrinate and @Pawankhera calls Owaisi as BJP Agent.
Watch this video how Congress and MIM are joining hands for Jubilee hills bypolls.
Owaisi who once called KCR mamu is now blaming KCR for not developing Jubilee hills. pic.twitter.com/6TJAdEGnIB
— 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐮𝐝 (@Sagar4BJP) October 17, 2025
On October 17, Jubilee Hills Congress candidate V. Naveen Yadav, a family long associated with Congress and later with BRS, filed his nomination papers. Interestingly, Yadav, who had contested from the same constituency on an AIMIM ticket in 2014, is now contesting again — ten years later — as the Congress candidate, with the backing of his former party chief, Asaduddin Owaisi. In 2018, after being denied a ticket by AIMIM, Yadav entered the fray as an independent but lost to BRS candidate Maganti Gopinath. More recently, he joined the Congress ahead of the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections, marking yet another chapter in his politically eventful journey.
The event drew senior Congress leaders including V. Hanumantha Rao, Ministers Ponnam Prabhakar and Vivek, Greater Hyderabad Mayor Gadwala Vijayalakshmi, and Habiba Sultana. Former MP Mohammed Azharuddin and Rajya Sabha member Anil Kumar Yadav were also present.
Owaisi said BRS had its MLA from Jubilee Hills for 10 years, and the party was in power, but it did not develop the constituency. The Hyderabad MP said nearly 4 lakh voters of the constituency want development. He said the constituency has many slum areas, and the civic amenities need to be improved in all the wards. “This byelection is a chance to develop the constituency,” he said.
BRS has fielded former MLA Maganti Gopinath’s wife, Sunitha, as its candidate, while the BJP has re-nominated L. Deepak Reddy, who secured the third position in the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections.
From 2004 to 2012, AIMIM shared close ties with the Congress under late Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, enjoying influence in the Andhra Pradesh government. However, the alliance ended in 2012 after a dispute over the Bhagyalakshmi Temple near Charminar. Since 2014, Owaisi aligned with K. Chandrashekar Rao’s BRS, maintaining access to power corridors in Telangana. His shifting alliances, from Congress to BRS and now back to Congress, reflect AIMIM’s consistent pursuit of political leverage under the guise of minority politics.
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