Hyderabad, Feb. 10 -- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded four Muslim candidates in the Karimnagar Municipal Corporation elections scheduled for February 11, according to the party's candidate list dated February 2-an unusual move in a town where the party has not nominated a Muslim candidate for nearly 50 years.

BJP targets AIMIM strongholds

The most closely watched nomination is that of Md Inayath Ali from Ward 32, a Muslim-majority locality that has remained under the control of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) for nearly four decades. Of the ward's 5,030 voters, around 98 per cent are Muslims, and the BJP had not contested the seat in previous municipal elections.

Md Inayath Ali, a local flower shop owner...