MIM chief hopes to play kingmaker in AP politics

President of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and Lok Sabha member from Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisi believes that Andhra Pradesh is heading towards a hung assembly as no political party would get a clear majority in the forthcoming assembly elections.
 
Campaigning for his party in different parts of Greater Hyderabad, Owaisi on Saturday said that the Congress, the Telugu Desam Party and the Praja Rajyam Party would not be able to secure more than 140 seats in the 294-member House.

"Our party is going to play the role of king maker. No party will be in a position to form its government without our support," he said.
 
He predicted that the MIM's strength in the assembly will go up to 10 seats from its present tally of five. He asked the Muslim community to remain united and extend support to the MIM to achieve this goal.
 
MIM, an ally of the ruling Congress since 2004, has been targeting the Telugu Desam Party and its president N Chandrababu Naidu.

"In the past, they broke the promises made to the people and have turned politics into business," said Owaisi.

He held Naidu, a former ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party, responsible for the killing of thousands of Muslims in Gujarat during the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's rule.

In the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, Zahid Ali Khan, an independent candidate supported by the TDP, Telangana Rashtriya Samiti and Left Front will be the main challenger for Owaisi. Dismissing his opponent as a 'rootless wonder', he said that the Opposition parties were so weak that they couldn't field their own candidate.
 
Apart from retaining the five present assembly seats of Charminar, Chandrayangutta, Yakutpur and Asifnagar, the party is hoping to win Malakpet, Nampally, Bahadurpura and a couple of other seats.