Hyderabad-based All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) party led by Asaduddin Owaisi is testing the political waters in Assam and is scouting for partners to make its debut in the Assam Assembly election in 2021.
AIMIM has never contested any elections in Assam and has no formal committee.
Sensing an opportunity after rising discontentment within a section of minority leaders in the Congress Party over its alliance with perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal led AIUDF, AIMIM is in touch with the group to form a party committee ahead of the elections.
“AIMIM leadership is in touch with us….. we have not decided anything on it….. but if Congress-AIUDF alliance goes ahead in elections we will not hesitate to join hands with Owaisi,” Akabar Ali Miah, Congress leader from Bilasipara, told G Plus. Miah fought as an independent and lost to AIUDF’s candidate Hafiz Bashir Ahmed from Bilasipara West constituency by a narrow margin of 11,202 votes in the 2016 assembly elections.
He informed that there are around 12 minority leaders in the Congress Party who are miffed with Congress-AIUDF alliance and are planning to put up candidates in at least 40 Muslim minority dominated constituencies to mar the prospects of AIUDF.
“We will see for the next few months if the alliance is formalised…. we will defiantly join any party of our liking who cares for the well being of minorities and it can be AIMIM...,” Miah added.
However, AIMIM is tight lipped on the issue; repeated phone calls and an SMS query to party leader Owaisi remained unanswered till the filing of this report.
Muslims comprise around 35 per cent of Assam's electorate and four of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam are Muslim majority. These numbers are clearly an attractive proposition for AIMIM whose politics is based on espousing the cause of Muslim minorities in India.
It may be mentioned here that AIMIM has already announced contesting in the West Bengal elections in 2021.
