BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao made a stop at Nimrah Cafe and Bakery, the well-known eatery adjacent to the Charminar in Hyderabad's old city, to sample its signature Irani chai and Osmania biscuits. In a post on X, the former Telangana minister said he was given a warm welcome by the cafe's owner, Aslam Bin Abood, and thanked the staff for their hospitality.

'What's a visit to Hyderabad's old city without some Irani chai,' Rama Rao wrote, describing the visit as an experience of the locality's enduring food culture. The post was accompanied by four images from the cafe.

Context

Nimrah Cafe and Bakery sits within walking distance of the Charminar, the 1591 monument that anchors Hyderabad's old city and remains the most recognised symbol of the Qutb Shahi-era urban plan. The cafe is among a cluster of long-running establishments that have made the Charminar precinct a magnet for visitors seeking the city's distinctive chai-and-biscuit tradition.

Irani chai, a strong, milky tea, and the crumbly Osmania biscuit, named for the last Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan, are staples of Hyderabad's composite Indo-Islamic culinary identity. Small family-run cafes around Charminar have sustained the tradition for decades.

Policy backdrop

As IT, Industries and Municipal Administration minister in the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi government, Rama Rao oversaw several urban-development and heritage initiatives in Hyderabad, including beautification works around the Charminar pedestrianisation project. Visits to old-city landmarks have remained a recurring feature of his public engagements.

The BRS, which governed Telangana from 2014 to 2023, has been recalibrating its outreach since its assembly-election defeat, with leaders regularly engaging small business owners and cultural establishments across constituencies.

Stakeholders and impact

For neighbourhood eateries like Nimrah, a visit from a high-profile political figure typically translates into footfall and social-media visibility. Old-city traders have long pressed for better civic infrastructure, parking and conservation around the Charminar precinct, issues that cut across party lines.

Heritage tourism advocates have argued that the chai-and-biscuit economy around Charminar is an under-leveraged cultural asset, one that intersects with conservation, hygiene standards and small-business credit access.

What's next

Rama Rao's post does not announce a policy step, but such interactions often precede the party's commentary on civic conditions in the old city. Watchers will look for any follow-up on heritage-tourism circuits or municipal upgrades around the Charminar precinct, an area where the BRS retains an active interest as an opposition party.