Owaisi visits Bengal, holds meeting with religious leader

AIMIM supremo Assaduddin Owaisi on Sunday arrived at Futura Sharif in Bengal's Hooghly district and held discussions on the state's political scenario and upcoming assembly polls with prominent Muslim leader Abbas Siddiqui, sources in his party said.

This is Owaisi's first visit to West Bengal following his announcement to contest elections in the state.

"Owaisi wanted to keep the meeting a secret as we were apprehensive that the state government might have stopped him from exiting the airport. From Kolkata airport, he went straight to Hooghly to meet Abbas Siddiqui. He will leave for Hyderabad this afternoon," AIMIM state secretary Zameerul Hassan told reporters. Siddiqui, a Pirzada (religious leader) from Futura Sharif, has been speaking out against the state government over a host of issues, of late. According to the sources, he is planning to float a minority outfit of his own.

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