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.

On Tuesday, as the votes polled for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency were counted, the MP defeated his BJP rival Madhavi Latha by a big margin of over 3.38 lakh votes, in what is seen as a testament to the iron grip of the Owaisi family over the old city.