Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has set up base in West Bengal, the state where BJP is already looking to turn politics.
Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi who is the party chief told on Thursday that he is also looking to expand in Rajasthan and Jharkhand as well. Reported TOI. The newspaper quoted him as saying “This yolk of secularism and this huge responsibility on Muslims to ensure that secular candidates win has weakened.” He added: “The community has realised that despite voting (for the Congress and other such parties) they are not able to defeat BJP. In Rajasthan, there is realisation (among Muslims) that they need a political voice, especially after the judgment of Pehlu Khan and BJP winning so many Parliament seats.”
Claiming that leaders and social groups from West Bengal had been asking him to expand his party in the state even before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections Owaisi said “I had asked them to wait till the elections are over. Now that the results are out, we are going ahead with the expansion.”
It must be noted that MIM has held at least 20 well-attended public meetings in Muslim dominated areas of West Bengal’s Howrah, Kolkata, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, Nadia, and Asansol.
Claiming that they are targeting areas where they are getting substantial traction, Syed Asim Waqar, in charge of AIMIM in West Bengal said, “Many in the state feel that only Asaduddin Owaisi has the strength to fight BJP. Only AIMIM can counter BJP just like chief counters them in Parliament.” He added, “We have also seen many people joining us, including from Trinamool and Congress. Among them are professors and other professionals.”
As for the Rajasthan, Hyderabad MP Owaisi said, presently, they are only meeting different groups and exploring possibilities, and no public meetings have been held so far. He claimed that many people, including an important group which has many responsible people, are coming from Rajasthan to meet him.