AIMIM declares support for Congress’ Naveen Yadav in Jubilee Hills bypoll; BRS accused of fake news

Hyderabad: Ending speculation, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) officially announced its support to Congress candidate Naveen Yadav for the Jubilee Hills by-election.

Naveen Yadav filed his nomination papers while being cheered by a mega rally on Friday.

Owaisi to stay away from campaigning

Asaduddin Owaisi, president and Member of Parliament of Hyderabad, said, “AIMIM will give its support to Naveen Yadav in Jubilee Hills bypoll.” Asaduddin Owaisi made it clear that he will not campaign in the constituency.

The move is aimed at consolidating the anti-Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) votes in the constituency.

Large Muslim base

With 33 per cent Muslims in the constituency, there was fear that the votes would be divided if AIMIM also fields a candidate. Many independent Muslim candidates have filed their nominations. The most sought-after on social media is Salman Khan.

“We announce our support for Congress candidate Naveen Yadav for the development of Jubilee Hills,” said Asaduddin Owaisi. Owaisi clarified that this support is purely for the electoral contest in the constituency and for the development of Jubilee Hills.

Naveen Yadav’s background with AIMIM

Naveen Yadav, who is now a Congress candidate, contested the Jubilee Hills seat on an AIMIM ticket in the 2014 (united) Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections. Even after he left AIMIM, his connection with the party and the cadre in the constituency has been good.

In the present election, Naveen Yadav has three cadres working for him: Congress cadre on the ground, AIMIM (now officially with no candidate to be contested) and municipal corporators who left BRS and joined Congress.

Hence, the BRS cadre of these corporators is also working for Naveen Yadav.

Congress claims BRS is spreading fake news about Naveen

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) spokesperson Syed Nizamuddin on Friday accused the BRS of orchestrating a fake news campaign to defame Congress candidate Naveen Yadav and mislead voters in the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency.

Nizamuddin said, “They created a fake news clip claiming that Naveen Yadav had made objectionable remarks against Muslims. This is completely false, baseless and malicious. He has never made such a comment at any time or on any platform.”

Addressing a press conference in Gandhi Bhawan, Nizamuddin said, “To make the fake clip look authentic, the perpetrators used the dateline and layout of a leading Telugu daily, falsely projecting it as a legitimate news item. Their intention was clear - to mislead Muslim voters and create communal misunderstanding.”

Nizamuddin further said, “Another clip circulating falsely claims ‘HYDRAA will demolish houses in Jubilee Hills’.”

“These repeated attempts show that the BRS has become a habitual offender in spreading fake news,” he said. “Instead of answering for its 10 years of failures in Jubilee Hills, the BRS is now throwing mud at Naveen Yadav to divert attention from its own record of neglect and misgovernance.”

Congress to seek police action against fake news

Nizamuddin said the Congress party would lodge a formal complaint with the Cyber Crime Police and demand a thorough investigation.

“We are seeking strict action not only against the social media accounts that posted these fake news items but also against those who conceived, designed, funded and circulated them,” he said.

He further urged Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar to take suo motu cognisance and register a case against those responsible.