In what could be yet another reason for the opposition Congress party to worry, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is planning to shed its pro-minority image and run for ‘non-Muslim dominated’ seats.
The AIMIM, which ate into Congress’ Muslim votes during the local body elections last year, will field candidates in minority, Dalit and tribal-majority assembly districts. This, when the Congress is trying to reclaim its Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi, and Muslim (KHAM) vote banks with the realisation that the urban areas would remain the BJP’s mainstay.
The Congress may call the AIMIM a B-team of the BJP, but Asaduddin Owaisi’s party is also planning to run non-Muslim candidates in Hindu-majority districts.
The party’s strategy to field non-Muslim candidates during the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation elections in 2021 proved to be a great boon when Beenaben Parmar won in Jamalpur and with that AIMIM’s all panelists won. Inspired by the success of this experiment, the party is considering fielding more non-Muslim candidates from different seats in Gujarat during the December 2022 assembly elections.
When asked if the party planned to give tickets to non-Muslims too, Gujarat spokesperson of AIMIM Danish Qureshi told Vibes of India that the party would focus only on the calibre of the person before giving anyone a ticket. “We won’t look at their religion as we have never discriminated against anyone,” Qureshi said.
AIMIM supremo Owaisi in his public gatherings in Gujarat has been repeatedly saying that “just like Patidars who have 44 MLAs with less than 11 per cent population in Gujarat, our Dalit brothers, Adivasi brothers, our brothers from other castes who believe in ‘Hindu-Muslim Ekta’ should come together to form a new force which gives a voice to the unheard.” He said, “We want to be your voice in the assembly.”
With the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) striking an alliance with Aam Aadmi Party, AIMIM needs to cover the Adivasi voters as well so they are filling this gap with appeals of their national party president, who is urging everyone with a low representation in Gujarat to vote for his party. Owaisi is set to visit Gujarat on Sunday, days after his visits to Surat, Ahmedabad and Banaskantha.
AIMIM Gujarat Youth wing President Azaj Khan told VOI that mostly Congress and BJP field Dalits and Adivasis only from reserved seats but AIMIM will set an example in the State and will give tickets to Dalits and Adivasis from an open seat. “We will try to win the trust of all of Gujarat,” he says.
He said the BJP didn’t give tickets to Muslims and Congress gives tickets only where there are more than 50% Muslim population “but we may well field our Thakor brothers from Muslim-dominated areas and make them win.”
Party insiders revealed that there were clear instructions from the AIMIM supremo to all his cadres to work for all as the religious tag on the party was proving to be counterproductive and not good for growth.
On a recent Gujarat visit, AIMIM’s national spokesperson Waris Pathan told VOI, “We will come up with a comprehensive strategy for the Gujarat polls and winnability of candidate is a key part in it.”
”We will fight the next assembly elections with all our might,” he said.
In the local body elections in Gujarat in February last year, the AIMIM won as many as 25 seats, including seven in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, and the rest in Modasa, Godhra and Bharuch local bodies.
Also Read: Beware Congress, AIMIM Is Getting Stronger In Gujarat
