Asaduddin Owaisi, who was once the leader of a little-known outfit confined to the old city of Hyderabad, has emerged as a powerful voice of Muslims in the country in recent years.
Some have been cherry-picked to assert the BJP's supremacy over its allies or, significantly, its leaders who charted an independent course in the recent past.
Senior Muslim leader, veteran Parliamentarian and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi was bid a tearful adieu by lakhs of his supporters on Tuesday when he was laid to rest at the Dargah Agha Dawood in Hyderabad.
Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) passed away on Monday in Hyderabad after a prolonged illness. He was 76.
Indira Gandhi valued Rahul Gandhi's 'grit and determination' and often considered him mature enough to be taken into confidence on subjects she avoided discussing even with his parents when he was barely 14, according to a new book.
Even as major political parties were still busy in behind the scene efforts to find suitable partners and stitch seat sharing arrangements, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen on Monday released first list of seven candidates for the assembly elections.
"Shouldn't those who killed 92 persons get death sentence?... when should capital punishment be awarded?" the 46-year-old controversial politician asked.
Today as one sees the Owaisi brothers of Hyderabad seeking to lay claim as the custodian of the Muslim vote and the upholders of the community's interests, it is Shahabuddin who springs to mind for having been there, done that, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Bhim denotes Dalit icon Bhimrao Ambedkar, while Mim denotes the letter 'M' in the Urdu alphabet; the party used the slogan effectively in the 2014 Maharashtra assembly elections
'This is an emotional issue and cannot be resolved by law alone.' 'This can be resolved only by creating trust again.' 'So much bloodletting has taken place, there is no point in going on and on.' 'Let us sit together and negotiate'