Cong expects Azhar to counter PRP and woo youth

HYDERABAD: The Congress is set to project 49 year old former skipper Mohammed Azharuddin as its youth mascot to fight rival Praja Rajyam Party in the state led by actor turned politician Chiranjeevi.

PRP is projecting itself as a party for the youth in Andhra Pradesh and the Congress is countering Chiranjeevi with Azhar as its youth mascot. Observors say that his entry would also prevent an exodus of youth from the Congress to the PRP.

Cricketer turned politician Azhar though will be fielded for the Lok Sabha either from Nizamabad or Malkajgiri constituency. A final decision will be taken by the Congress Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in a day or two���, said a senior member of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC).

There are around 4.6 crore voters in Andhra Pradesh. Nizamabad is in the outskirts of Hyderabad and dominated by the minority community. Malkajgiri, on the other hand, is an urban area closer to Secunderabad.

Party insiders reckon that Azhar���s profile fits the bill in both these constituencies. Currently, the Congress holds the Nizamabad seat and Malkajgiri is a newly created constituency. Lok Sabha elections will be held between April 16 and May 13. It will be in two phases in Andhra Pradesh.


Azhar, however, said that his induction in the party had nothing to do with wooing the minority community. ���The Congress party has always worked for the upliftment of the minority community.

I am ready to do whatever the party high command instructs me to do. I would like to work for the poor, downtrodden and the youth.��� the former Indian cricket captain said recently.

Last week, the Congress party clarified that there were no pending cases against Azhar and it was he who had ���filed a case against Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI).

Azhar captained the Indian cricket team for a better part of the nineties. His innings came to an end in 2000, when the BCCI banned him for life over his involvement in a match-fixing scandal.

But he said he would continue playing cricket. ���Cricket is my passion. I will be working on my cricket academy, though the work is going slow now,��� he said.