In Hindutva’s absence, class is deciding the Muslim vote in Telangana

“Hyderabad does not have riots anymore,” Mohammad Ashraf reflected. “We live happily with each other here.”

It was not always like this. “My childhood was characterised with the fear of communal violence,” Ashraf said. “But now that age is gone. It has changed since TRS came to power,” referring to the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi, which was earlier known as Telangana Rashtra Samithi.

Ashraf is not alone. Most Muslims Scroll spoke to Telangana had only praise for the state’s law and order when it came to communal violence. Riots, once common in Hyderabad, were now confined to memory. Moreover, the Bharatiya Janata Party is a bit player in the state and Hindutva has a minor footprint in the state.

As a result, Telangana is a rare state in India where Muslim politics does not centre around security. The outcome of this is that the community is mobilising around a somewhat more banal faultline: class.

Muslims who are poor tend to vote for the Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-i-Ittehadul Muslimeen in Hyderabad and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi in the rest of the state. However, more well-off Muslims are now moving towards the Congress, attracted in part by Rahul Gandhi’s popularity and his strong communal amity pitch during the Bharat Jodo...

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