Thaindian News

Hyderabad, June 19 (IANS) In a significant development, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) president and Lok Sabha member Asaduddin Owaisi called on YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy in Chanchalguda Central Jail here Tuesday.

The meeting assumes significance in the wake of near-clean sweep by the YSR Congress in the last week’s by-elections in the state.

The meeting indicates MIM, an ally of the ruling Congress party, may move closer to the YSRCP, which won Nellore Lok Sabha seat and 15 of the 18 assembly seats in the by-elections with massive majority.

The MIM has seven members in a 294-member assembly and its support is crucial to the survival of the Congress government in the state. The party had bailed out the government during the no-confidence motion moved by main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in the assembly in December last year.

Owaisi told reporters after the meeting that he requested Jagan, as the YSR Congress leader is popularly called, to support United Progressive Alliance (UPA) candidate Pranab Mukherjee in the presidential elections.

“I requested him that his party should not ally with the NDA as they have communal ideology. He has told me that he will keep this in mind,” said the Hyderabad MP.

Jagan, who is in jail in illegal assets case, is an MP from Kadapa. His party has two MPs while a Congress MP is also loyal to him.

The MIM was very close to Jagan’s father and then chief minister Y. S.Rajasekhara Reddy, who introduced and implemented four percent reservation to Muslims in jobs and education and also provided scholarships to students from the minority community.