AIMIM to contest ‘at least 25 to 30 seats’ in T.N.

After tasting success in the recently-concluded Bihar Assembly election, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), headed by Hyderabad-based politician Asaduddin Owaisi, will contest “at least 25-30 seats” in the Tamil Nadu Assembly election subsequent 12 months, the social gathering’s State president, Vakeel Ahmed, stated on Monday.

“I have been speaking to Mr. Duraimurugan [general secretary] of the DMK over the last two months about an alliance, but haven’t heard back from him,” Mr. Ahmed instructed The Puucho. Claiming that his social gathering loved widespread assist amongst Muslim kids, he stated it will contest seats in Krishnagiri, Vellore, Tiruchi, Madurai and Pudukottai, amongst different districts. “If the DMK loses, they should not blame us,” he stated.

According to him, Muslims have begun to realise the necessity for a pan-India Muslim management. “When every community in India wants a political leader for themselves, why shouldn’t the Muslim community desire a national leader to represent its interests?” he requested.

Responding to the criticism that the AIMIM helps the BJP by splitting Muslim votes and weakening the (*25*), Mr. Ahmed stated, “Before 2014, we were in an alliance with the Congress. Today, BJP has given 10% reservation for the economically weaker sections. The Congress could have provided 10% reservation for Muslims when it was in power for 10 years. Did it? The Congress contested 10 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu. Did it give even a single seat to a Muslim?” he requested.

“The BJP is the enemy that we can see eye to eye. The Congress stabs us in the back,” he stated. “The protests against the CAA, the NRC, the NPR and [the dilution of] Article 370 were held mainly by Muslims. The Congress did not mobilise people. It only opposed them in Parliament,” Mr. Ahmed stated.

Muslim political leaders in the State dismissed considerations that ‘vote-splitters’ may very well be used efficiently to break up the Muslim vote to have an effect on the electoral consequence for the DMK-Congress entrance.

With the AIADMK-BJP alliance having been cemented, some throughout the AIADMK have expressed fears that the social gathering’s Muslim vote financial institution has left them. They are hoping that the AIMIM issue would assist them.

Manithaneya Makkal Katchi president M.H. Jawahirullah stated Mr. Owaisi’s technique of putting the BJP and the Congress on the identical airplane would don’t have any resonance in the State. “The Muslim political landscape in Tamil Nadu is vastly different from the one in north India. In Tamil Nadu, a number of prominent Muslim leaders have been a part of, and closely associated with, the Congress, the Justice Party, the Dravidar Kazhagam, and later with the DMK and the AIADMK. Sizeable numbers of Muslims support the DMK, the AIADMK and the Congress when they are in an alliance with Muslim parties. Therefore, the idea that the BJP and the Congress or the BJP and the DMK are one and the same will not work in Tamil Nadu,” he stated.

“We have enough political parties to represent the interests of the Muslim community. There is no chance that the voters would switch to a party from outside Tamil Nadu,” he claimed.

Indian Union Muslim League’s nationwide president K.M. Kader Mohideen stated, “He [Mr. Owaisi] may get some support in Hindi-speaking States by using radical rhetoric towards Muslims, but it won’t work in Kerala, Karnataka, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu. This kind of politics won’t be accepted by a majority of Muslims, and will die down after the election. In Tamil Nadu and Kerala, there are parties that have an ideological commitment towards the welfare of Muslims. So I don’t think it [Tamil Muslims supporting Mr. Owaisi] is possible,” he stated.