T'gana assembly polls: AIMIM retains all sitting MLAs in first

The Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Tuesday retained all its sitting MLAs in the first list of seven candidates for the coming legislative assembly elections in Telangana.

The AIMIM had seven MLAs in the state legislative assembly dissolved last week.

Owaisi's younger brother Akbaruddin Owaisi would contest from Chandrayangutta assembly segment, according to a AIMIM release.

The other candidates announced are: Syed Ahmed Pasha Quadri (Yakutpura), Mumtaz Ahmed Khan (Charminar), Mohd Moazam Khan (Bahadurpura), Ahmed Bin Abdullah Balala (Malakpet), Jaffer Hussain Meraj (Nampally) and Kausar Moinuddin (Karwan).

All the assembly segments are in Hyderabad.

The only minor change in the list is the swap of constituencies between Mumtaz Ahmed Khan and Ahmed Pasha Quadri.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) said the MIM is its "friendly party" though it has already announced candidates for 105 among the total 119 assembly segments, including the seats held by MIM.

Legislative assembly polls were originally scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections next year.

However, the assembly was dissolved as per the recommendation made by the TRS government, necessitating elections ahead of schedule.