AIMIM to enter Gujarat after West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh; Akbaruddin Owaisi confident

Emboldened by its victory in Bihar assembly elections and the limelight it has received since then, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has announced that it will contest local bodies' polls in Gujarat. AIMIM's Aurangabad Lok Sabha MP Imtiaz Jaleel said that the party will contest the polls in alliance with the Chhotubhai Vasava-led Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP). Akbaruddin Owaisi on Wednesday shared a picture of himself, party chief Asaduddin Owaisi, spokesperson Waris Pathan and MP Jaleel and said that they are coming.

"We plan to contest the local bodies' elections in Gujarat in alliance with the BTP. We do not have a state unit as yet in Gujarat but there are AIMIM supporters working in places like Ahmedabad and Bharuch," Jaleel told PTI  "I am going to Gujarat in the first week of next month for talks with BTP, after which I will submit a report to my party president," he added. The BTP has two MLAs in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly. 

The election to six municipal corporations – Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar — along with 55 municipalities, 31 district panchayats and 231 taluka panchayats were scheduled for October-November but were postponed by three months due to COVID pandemic. 

READ | AIMIM shifts attention to Bengal; Owaisi preparing for upcoming polls in 2021

The AIMIM factor in Bihar

Asaduddinn Owaisi's AIMIM won 5 seats in Bihar out of the 20 he contested. However, when he was termed as B-team of BJP, he slammed the Congress and gave proof. He said that out of the 20 seats AIMIM contested, they won 5 while NDA and Mahagatbandhan had won 6 and 9 seats respectively. Owaisi pointed out that NDA's victory margin on the seats that it won- Sahebganj, Chhatarpur, Narpatganj, Pranpur, Barari, and Raniganj - was more than the votes secured by his party. Thus, NDA would have won from the aforesaid constituencies even if the AIMIM candidate was not in the fray, he explained.  

READ | Owaisi slams Yogi for seeking to withdraw cases against Muzaffarnagar riots-accused MLAs

AIMIM in UP and West Bengal 

Meanwhile, AIMIM has declared its first candidate - Dr Abdul Manan - for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh polls. Manan - an eye surgeon by profession - has been fielded by AIMIM for the Utarauli Vidhan Sabha seat in the Balrampur district. Manan had joined AIMIM after leaving the Peace party. The state's next elections will be held in the month of February-March 2022. On 16 December, AIMIM chief Asadudding Owaisi met Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar in Lucknow to stitch an alliance for the 2022 UP polls. 

AIMIM has also announced it will contest for the 2021 West Bengal polls but is yet to decide on its alliance and candidates. Responding to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's allegations that Owaisi's party will act as "B team", he has pointed out that Mamata's TMC was with the NDA when the Gujarat riots took place in 2002.

READ | AIMIM declares first candidate for 2022 UP polls as Owaisi prepares Bengal entry

READ | Owaisi lashes out at BJP-ruled states' 'Love Jihad' laws; reminds them 'Right to religion'