Asaduddin Owaisi. | Photo Credit: ANI
Imaginary arrows shot by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections fell short of the intended target by several miles in Hyderabad constituency as sitting parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi won with a staggering margin of 3,38,087 votes.
The margin is the widest since 1984, when Mr. Owaisi’s father Salahuddin Owaisi contested from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency which then included Tandur, Vicarabad and Chevella Assembly segments.
The challenger here was the BJP’s Kompella Madhavi Latha, whose gesture of shooting an arrow near a covered-up masjid in Siddiamber Bazaar on Ram Navami caused considerable controversy. Ms. Latha embarked on a campaign cutting across areas in the constituency. But her outreach failed to make the cut. On one hand, the statements she made during her campaign touched upon civic issues, but on the other, she waded into controversial subjects such as the hijab in schools and madrassas. That did not sit well with a majority of voters.
Mr. Owaisi’s campaign, which observers said began soon after the Telangana Assembly elections, touched upon the protection of the Constitution of India, laws which according to him were detrimental to the interests of minority communities and marginalised groups. However, his visits to beef shops during door-to-door campaigning were criticised by Ms Latha who later lodged a complaint against him with the Election Commission of India.
Per latest figures on the ECI website, while Ms. Latha polled 3,23,894 votes, Mr. Owaisi polled 6,61,981 votes. Ms. Latha polled considerable votes from Assembly segments such as Goshamahal, which is represented by BJP legislator T. Raja Singh and Yakutpura.
Celebrations broke out in the AIMIM party headquarters in Darussalaam early on Tuesday evening, and party workers began to converge in large numbers as they waited for the party leadership to arrive. During their wait, Mr Owaisi’s supporters began to dance to the beats of the traditional marfa.
Later in the evening, Mr. Owaisi reached the exhibition grounds and received the certificate of election from the returning officer.
