Akbaruddin Owaisi withdraws his nomination papers

Doubts over the MIM candidate for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency cleared on Thursday with party leader Akbaruddin Owaisi withdrawing his nomination papers.

Mr Akbaruddin Owaisi had filed his papers on March 20, which created confusion as his elder brother and party president Asaduddin Owaisi had filed his papers. Mr Asaduddin Owaisi had clarified that the filing of nomination by his brother and the Chandrayangutta MLA was part of the back-up strategy of the party, which was a common practice. That did not clear the doubts in many people's



minds.

A total of 24 candidates had filed their papers for the Hyderabad seat. While five nominations were rejected during scrutiny, four including Mr Akbaruddin Owaisi, withdrew.

Among the 15 candidates in the fray are two from national parties — Mr Bhagwanth Rao Pawar of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Mr Mohammed Feroz Khan of the Congress — and two candidates of regional parties, Mr Pusthe Srikanth from the TRS, an MIM ally, and Mr Asaduddin Owaisi of the MIM.