The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul- Muslimeen (AIMIM) led by Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday released the first list of nine candidates for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
Barrister Asaduddin Owaisi is the president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul- Muslimeen. An outspoken parliamentarian, Asaduddin Owaisi has been instrumental in persuading the Indian Government to establish an exclusive Ministry of Minority Affairs to look after the welfare of religious minorities, including Muslims, in India. The party is working to expand its base in the Muslim dominated Western Uttar Pradesh and the Rohilkhand region. All the nine candidates have been fielded on Muslim dominated seats, including Behat, Dhaulana, Loni, Kithore, Sardhana, Siwal Khas, Garh Mukteshwar and Bareilly.
AIMIM had decided to contest assembly election on 100 seats after joining Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha (BSM) led by the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar. After Rajbhar joined the Samajwadi party alliance, Owaisi also proposed to join hands with the SP. In the absence of any offer from Samajwadi Party chief, Akhilesh Yadav, the AIMIM decided to contest the Assembly election on its own.
Fearing division in Muslim votes, Maulana Khalil-ur- Rahman Sajjad Nomani, a senior member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), sent an open letter to Owaisi on Thursday urging him to check the division in the Muslim votes by fielding candidates only on those seats that AIMIM is sure of winning.
Reacting to the letter, the national spokesperson of AIMIM and Uttar Pradesh in-charge, Syed Asim Waqar said, Nomani is not a political person and should not interfere in politics as AIMIM does not meddle in the working of the AIMPLB.
AIMIM chief will also take a final call on two alliance offers in the coming days, the spokesperson said. The Rashtriya Ulama Council led by Maulana Aamir Rashadi that has a base in Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur districts and the Peace Party led by Dr Mohammad Ayub that has a base in Gorakhpur and Basti division in eastern Uttar Pradesh, have offered Owaisi to form a coalition for the polls.
The AIMIM spokesperson said Owaisi would take a final decision over the alliance with both parties. AIMIM had fielded candidates on 38 seats in the 2017 assembly election but failed to open its account. The only consolation was that party candidate Zia-ur-Rehman was runner-up on the Sambhal assembly seat.
