HYDERABAD: The Congress in Telangana is considering fielding former Indian cricket captain

from the Hyderabad

seat. The party has reportedly discussed the issue of his candidature from Hyderabad with party president Rahul Gandhi as well. If this happens, Azhar could be pitted against sitting AIMIM MP

.

Azhar, however, told TOI that he had no clue about the move. The stylish right-handed batsman had openly said in November that he wanted to contest Lok Sabha election from Secunderabad. He was then made working president of the Telangana Congress just ahead of the assembly election in the state.

Sources said if Azhar does not wish to contest from Hyderabad, he would be offered a ticket from some other constituency, such as Zaheerabad.

Sources said Congress is keen on fielding a well known face against Asaduddin, who has been winning from Hyderabad since 2004. The constituency has been an AIMIM bastion since 1980s. Asaduddin’s father Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi had represented Hyderabad five times from 1984.

Azharuddin has never contested elections from Telangana or united AP

In the recently held assembly elections in Telangana,

(AIMIM) had won six of seven assembly segments under Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat, including Karwan, Bahadurpura, Malakpet, Yakutpura, Charminar and Chandrayangutta. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had bagged Goshamahal, the seventh segment.

In the previous Lok Sabha election, Congress candidate S Krishna Reddy had secured only 5 per cent of polled votes, while Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Bhagvantha Rao got 32 per cent votes.

Sources said Telangana Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy and party state in-charge R C Kuntia proposed Azharuddin’s name to Rahul who in turn wanted the cricketer’s opinion on contesting from Hyderabad.

Interestingly, Azharuddin has never contested elections from Telangana or united Andhra Pradesh. He became MP in 2004 from Moradabad in

and lost the 2014 election from Tonk-Sawai Madhapur in Rajasthan. Though 38 candidates applied for a ticket from Hyderabad, the party high command is keen on Azhar’s candidature.

When contacted, Telangana Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy said no decision had been taken on candidates from any constituency. “The party will finalise candidates in three to four days. The discussions are going on with the party leadership,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said.