News Analysis India

Tag: Asaduddin Owaisi

  • Sakshi Maharaj says Owaisi’s AIMIM will help BJP in UP, West Bengal

    Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: Welcoming the proposed move of All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) to contest UP panchayat polls likely to take place March-April, this year, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Unnao Sakshi Maharaj said that AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had helped the saffron party in Bihar and he would continue to do so in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal as well.

    The BJP MP’s comments were made in response to the Hyderabad MP’s party actively entering the political fray in the northern state. While interacting with media persons in Kannauj while on his way to Delhi, Maharaj said, “May God give more strength to Owaisi. He has helped us in Bihar and will do so in UP and Bengal.”

    READ HERE | Owaisi’s AIMIM may jump into UP panchayat poll fray

    Owaisi had been on a day-long  trip to eastern UP districts including Varanasi, Mau, Jaunpur and Azamgarh on Tuesday to strengthen his party’s base ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls in the state. He had even charged Samajwadi Party president and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav with barring him from coming to UP 12 times.

    “When Akhilesh Yadav’s government was in power in the state, we were stopped from coming to the state 12 times. Now, I have arrived. I have come to keep my commitment with SBSP president Om Prakash Rajbhar,” Owaisi had said in Varanasi.

    ALSO READ | Owaisi says Akhilesh stopped him from visiting UP 12 times during his regime

    Owaisi had struck an alliance with the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP)  — Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha — for the Assembly polls in Bihar. Even Bahujan Samaj Party had also contested Bihar polls in alliance with Owaisi. The other smaller outfits in the Morcha included former UP Minister Babu Singh Kushwaha’s Jan Adhikar Party, Babu Ram Pal’s Rashtriya Uday Party, Anil Singh Chauhan’s Janata Kranti Party and Premchand Prajapati’s Rashtriya Upekshit Samaj Party. Rajbhar and Owaisi had recently met in Lucknow to chalk out final terms of the alliance in the wake of 2022 UP Assembly elections.

  • Owaisi’s AIMIM may jump into UP panchayat poll fray

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW:  In its quest to become a national party, the Asaduddin Owaisi- led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is likely to contest the panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh under an electoral pact with the regional outfit Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP).

    The Hyderabad-headquartered party is looking to expand its footprint after its success in Bihar where it had fielded 20 candidates and won in five constituencies. Owaisi had recently visited poll-bound West Bengal.

    The Bengal Imam Association had lashed out at Owaisi accusing him of creating a communal divide in the eastern state. In December, Owaisi had announced his plan contest the next state elections in Uttar Pradesh as part of the front led by the SBSP. Former UP minister Om Prakash Rajbhar of the SBSP is trying to form a rainbow coalition of like-minded parties under the Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha for the election.

    “Candidates belonging to Asaduddin Owaisi’s party are likely to be fielded in the panchayat elect ions as the Morcha’s joint candidate,” Rajbhar said, adding the Morcha constituents will hold meetings at all the 75 district headquarters on January 17.

    “A joint rally will be organised which will be addressed by Owaisi as well as other leaders of the front.” Uttar Pradesh has a total of 58,758 gram panchayats and as many panchayat heads. The five-year tenure of 58,660 gram panchayats, ended on December 25.

    AIMIM leader looking to expand his baseGoing by various reports, Owaisi has set his eyes on Gujarat, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh,  Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. In November, Owaisi had announced that his party will contest the polls in Tamil Nadu

  • Imams’ body to oppose AIMIM’s entry into the West Bengal poll arena

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: The West Bengal Imams’ Association said on Wednesday that they will hit the streets and gather support against the AIMIM’s decision to participate in the upcoming Assembly elections by fielding candidates in an alliance with influential Islamic cleric Abbas Siddiqui. 

    The Imam’s body alleged that the AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi’s decision to venture into Bengal’s electoral arena is with the goal of ensuring a division of votes in favour of the BJP in next year’s elections.

    ALSO READ | Amit Shah likely to address Matuas to quell discontent ahead of West Bengal polls The Imams’ Association also said that, if necessary, they will form a new organisation and contest the upcoming elections to foil the plans of AIMIM and Abbas. The ruling Trinamool Congress enjoys the support of the Muslims who form more than 30 per cent of the total electorate in Bengal. The community switched allegiance to the TMC’s fold in the 2011 Assembly elections, a decision that played a major part in the Left Front’s decimation. On January 3, Owaisi had visited Furfura Sharif in Hooghly district and met Abbas signalling AIMIM’s entry into the 2021 Assembly elections fray. 

    The entry of AIMIM and its alliance with Abbas is said to be aimed at chipping away at the minority vote share of the TMC. Both the TMC and the CPI(M) have described Owaisi as BJP’s proxy.

    ALSO READ | Owaisi’s party did not eat into Mahagathbandhan votes in Bihar

    After putting up an impressive show in last year’s Bihar Assembly elections by bagging five seats, the AIMIM is now eyeing the upcoming Bengal polls. The party is keen to leave its footprint on the politically volatile soil of Bengal, said the outfit’s state secretary Jamirul Hassan.

  • Eyeing 2021 polls, Owaisi lands in Bengal to discuss election plan with prominent Muslim cleric 

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Signalling new players’ entry in the 2021 fray in Bengal politics, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi’s Sunday visit to Furfura Sharif in Hooghly district to meet a prominent Islamic cleric has threatened to chip away at the ruling Trinamool Congress’ minority vote bank. 

    The meeting between Abbas Siddiqui, the cleric who has been speaking out against the state government and planning to float a minority outfit of his own, and Owaisi is said to be significant with the advent of new equations in Bengal’s political landscape. Siddiqui has not yet announced whether his outfit would form an alliance with the AIMIM or his followers would contest under the banner of Owaisi’s party in the upcoming elections. “Our party will participate in the 2021 Assembly elections with Siddiqui,” said Owaisi.

    ALSO READ | AIMIM to highlight political empowerment of weaker sections in West Bengal: Owaisi

    AIMIM’s state secretary Zameerul Hassan said the party will field candidates in the 2021 Assembly elections. “We are yet to prepare the list of the constituencies where we will contest,” he said.

    Muslims, who form 31 percent of the total electorate, are the deciding factor in at least 85 Assembly seats and in 30 more seats, they have a significant presence. Traditionally, the minority votes are largely seen as the ruling TMC’s strong support-base since 2011. The clerics of Furfura Sharif have had an influence over minority voters in south Bengal. The community shifted their preference from to the TMC in 2011 resulting in the change of guard in the state after the 34 years’ regime of the Left Front.

    After putting up a good show in last year’s Bihar Assembly elections by bagging five seats, the AIMIM is now eyeing the upcoming Bengal polls and the party is keen on leaving its footprint on the politically volatile soil of Bengal, said Hassan.

    At Furfura Sharif, West Bengal in a meeting with Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui sb, Pirzada Naushad Siddiqui sb, Pirzada Baizid Amin sb & Janab Sabir Ghaffar sb pic.twitter.com/lptUX24JnJ
    — Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) January 3, 2021

    “Owaisi wanted to keep his meeting with Siddiqui secret because we were apprehensive that the TMC-led state government would stop him from exiting the airport. He went straight to Hooghly from the airport, met Siddiqui and flew back to Hyderabad,” said Hassan.

    Hassan has already started organising workers’ meet in minority-dominated districts in the state for the last two weeks to consolidated minority votes in favour of the AIMIM.          

    Owaisi’s meeting with Siddiqui evoked a sharp reaction from the TMC. “It is known that AIMIM is nothing but a proxy of the BJP. Owaisi is well aware that Muslims in the state are Bengali speaking and they will not support him. His attempt to forge ties with Siddiqui will prove futile,” said TMC MP and spokesperson Saugata Roy.

  • Hyderabad Rains ;Massive water-logging on streets; 9 dead as wall collapses

    Eight persons, including a child, were crushed to death while three persons were injured after a boulder fell on their house at the Bandlaguda area of Hyderabad, following heavy rainfall in the city, police said.

    According to DCP south zone Gajarao Bhupal said that eight people were killed and three persons sustained severe injuries in the incident. Meanwhile, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, who visited the site tweeted that nine people were killed in Mohammedia Hills, Bandlaguda where a private boundary wall fell. Hyderabad Rains: While heavy rains have disrupted normal lives of people following waterlogging in various parts of the state.