Battle for Lok Sabha seats in Deccan: Can Rahul Gandhi settle the issue?

Battle of seats in Deccan 

Congress President Rahul Gandhi is going to Hyderabad later this month to sort out problems over who will contest from the prestigious Hyderabad and Secunderabad Lok Sabha seats in 2019. The problem is this: Former cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin is from Hyderabad and the Congress wants to field him from there. But the seat is a longtime pocket borough of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and current MP Asaduddin Owaisi is a tough challenge for anyone. What Azharuddin would really like is to contest from Secunderabad. But that is being resisted by current Greater Hyderabad Congress unit president Anjan Yadav. In fact, Yadav has held meetings of party workers and warned Azharuddin from making efforts to contest from Secunderabad. 

In the middle of everything

Events are conspiring to propel Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) senior leader LK Advani to be in the centre of things. At Karan Thapar’s book launch recently where Advani was also present, Thapar was asked for one question he would ask Advani if he got a chance to interview him. Thapar thought for a minute and said: “‘Mr Advani, would you wear a suit that has your name running through it in stripes?’”. That evening, Advani was one of the first to leave the hall. Later, when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee came to Delhi, she greeted Advani by touching his feet. “I have known him for many years. I asked about his health” she told reporters. The two spoke for about 15 minutes. Some BJP MPs wondered what Advani had to say to a chief minister in whose state, BJP workers are being murdered in large numbers.