Hyderabad, July 7 -- The ruling Congress is unlikely to give the ticket for the Jubilee Hills by-poll to a Muslim candidate, including former Indian cricket team captain Mohd Azharuddin. Party leaders said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may polarise minority votes which may help the main opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to win.

In the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections, Azharuddin was the Congress candidate. He lost to BRS leader Maganti Gopinath, whose death recently is what has necessitated the upcoming by-election. Gopinath secured 80,549 votes, while Congress candidate and former Indian cricket team captain Mohd Azharuddin came second with 64,212 votes. BJP's Lanka Deepak Reddy also managed to secure over 25000 votes, wh...