Al Haqeeqa
By Muslim Mirror Special Correspondent
Mumbai: The President of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and member of parliament from Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisi is facing severe criticism over his decision for fielding 51 candidates to contest the assembly across Maharashtra.
‘Asaduddin Owaisi always talks about the unity of Muslim then why he has fielded MIM candidates against many sitting Muslim MLAs like Ameen Patel and Nasim Khan etc across Maharashtra? I am ready to withdraw from contest if Owaisi will take back his candidates against sitting Muslim MLAs, said film actor Ejaz Khan in a video posted on his Facebook page.
Khan is contesting as an independent candidate from South Mumbai’s Byculla constituency against AIMIM candidate and sitting MLA Waris Pathan.
Earlier Khan wanted to get AIMIM ticket from Mumbra constituency, but was refused.
Owaisi is facing serious allegations since AIMIM decided to contest 51 out of the 288 assembly seats in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections scheduled to be held on 21 October.
In 2019 Lok Sabha elections Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and AIMIM came together to contest 48 parliamentary seats. In the alliance seat sharing arrangement the MIM was allotted one seat and VBA 47.The AIMIM’s Imtiaz Jaleel won the Aurangabad seat but the VBA failed to win any seat.
In 2014 state polls, AIMIM contested 24 seats and had won just two. This time AIMIM decided to go alone due to seat sharing issue with Prakash Ambedkar and fielded 51 candidates in the state.
The decision to contest 51 seats is being criticized widely by many community leaders as in their opinion Owaisi’s decision to contest from such huge number of seats will spoil Muslim votes and help BJP/Shiv Sena alliance.
‘Owisi always looks for his own benefits. He may get a couple of seats but ultimately BJP will be the biggest beneficiary of his politics, he is least bothered about the current scenario of the country in fact AIMIM and BJP strengthen each other, said Tanweer Alam, President, AMU Alumni Association of Maharashtra (AMUAAM).
‘Owaisi doesn’t care about the interest of the community. His personal interest is above everything. MIM has no presence on the ground but Owaisi has fielded candidates on more than fifty seats, just to increase his share of votes at any coast while setting aside the interest of the community, said Pune based activist Ali Inamdar of All India Muslim Development Council.
MIM never contested more than seven assembly seats in Telangana but the party has fielded 51 candidates across Maharashta , the purpose is clear Owaisi is indirectly helping BJP/Shiv Sena alliance. From Chidambaram to Azam Khan , BJP didn’t spare anyone but Owaisi never faced any problem , said Congress leader Nadeem Javaid while addressing an election meeting in Nagpur.
‘There is nothing like ‘Muslim empowerment’ in politics of Owaisi, he is just spoiling and dividing Muslim votes can you imagine he has fielded MIM candidate from Jalna which has only 12% Muslim votes. There were 17-18 Muslim MLAs before entry of AIMIM in Maharashtra elections, now the number is almost half , said Sikandar Sarwar a journalist from Aurangabad.
The decision to field such a huge number of candidates is sending a negative image of Owaisi in the community. He should have applied his mind and acted with responsibility, said Ansar Ahmad , an engineer from Latur.
