HYDERABAD: A sizeable Muslim wave helped Congress win in many seats unlike in 2018 when the community had backed BRS.
Among the seats Congress won is Warangal West, which it had not won in last four polls. There are over 60,000 voters from the community here.
Similarly, their vote helped Congress beat sitting BRS MLAs in Mahbubnagar, Huzurnagar, Warangal East, Khammam, Bodhan, Ibrahimpatnam, Shadnagar, Ramagundam, Nizamabad Rural and Nalgonda.
But it was a different story in Greater Hyderabad and surrounding areas, where they backed BRS and its ally AIMIM. Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM retained all its seven seats of Nampally, Charminar, Yakutpura, Chandrayangutta, Karwan, Bahadurpura and Malakpet.
Owaisi had appealed to the community to back BRS in all seats except the nine it was contesting. BRS won Muslim-concentrated seats of Sanathnagar and Secunderabad with huge majority. The community vote also helped BRS win Khairatabad, Jubilee Hills, Sangareddy, Secunderabad Cantonment and Musheerabad. The community, which has a sizeable presence in 45 of 119 constituencies, had traditionally backed the Congress but shifted to the BRS in 2014 and 2018.
Although they had no major complaints against BRS, Congress' Karnataka victory over BJP gave the community hope that a win in Telangana would put party on a stronger wicket against BJP in the Lok Sabha polls next year.
Manuu professor Afroz Alam said a sizeable section among the community was still with the BRS as in their two terms there have been no communal riots in the state.
Karnataka minorities minister Zameer Khan said the shift towards Congress was due to party's massive outreach over the past few months.