(Web Desk) - In a surprising move, the Congress party is considering to field famous tennis player Sania Mirza against All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi from Hyderabad in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Indian media reported.
As per the report, Mirza's name for the candidature was proposed by former Indian cricket captain and Congress leader Mohammed Azharuddin.
As the Congress Central Election Committee (CEC) cleared 18 names in a meeting held this past week to discuss candidates in four states - Goa, Telangana, UP, Jharkhand and Daman and Diu, it is speculated that Mirza's name was also discussed in the meeting.
Political pundits are of the view that Congress is eyeing Sania Mirza's popularity and celebrity status to establish the lost foothold in the city's electoral landscape, the report added.
Congress last won in Hyderabad in 1980 with K S Narayan as the MP.
Azharuddin and Sania have close family ties as the cricketer's son Mohammed Asaddudin is married to Sania Mirza's sister Anam Mirza in 2019.
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Azharuddin contested the recently held Telangana legislative assembly elections, where he lost to Bharat Rashtra Samithi's (BRS) Maganti Gopinath from Jubilee Hills constituency by over 16,000 votes.
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