Owaisi, Vinod Kumar file LS nominations in Telangana

AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi and TRS leader B Vinod Kumar were among those who filed nomination papers Monday for the April 11 Lok Sabha elections in Telangana.

Owaisi is seeking a fourth straight term in the lower house of Parliament, from Hyderabad constituency.

Vinod Kumar, who was Deputy Floor Leader of TRS (Telangana Rashtra Samiti) in Lok Sabha, entered the fray from Karimnagar, where he is the sitting MP.

The TRS is yet to name the candidates for the elections but Vinod Kumar was among the contenders who were given the go-ahead to file nominations by the party president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, TRS sources said.

With the ruling TRS making it clear that it would back his candidature, Owaisi seems to be on a strong wicket in this Muslim-dominated segment, a stronghold of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.

The Congress and the BJP are yet to name their candidates for this constituency, represented by Owaisi since 2004.

The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee had earlier recommended to the party central leadership to field Mohammad Azharuddin, among others, in Hyderabad constituency, but party sources have indicated that the former India cricket captain is not keen to contest here.

The TRS and the AIMIM have teamed up to face the Lok Sabha elections jointly in Telangana.

Owaisi is expected to campaign for TRS candidates, according to TRS sources.

"Hyderabad Parliamentary Constituency has been the voice of India's impoverished, oppressed & weak. Inshallah, it will continue to be so," he tweeted after filing the papers.

In the assembly elections in December last year, AIMIM had won seven of the eight seats it had contested. It had supported the ruling TRS in the remaining 111 segments.