After Maharashtra show, MIM eyes UP Muslims

LUCKNOW: After tasting blood in Maharashtra, where the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) won two seats, MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi is all set to turn his attention to Uttar Pradesh. Not ruling out a formal launch of the party in UP ahead of the 2017 Assembly elections, the MIM-projecting itself as the next "Muslim league" with a pan-India presence -will also launch its office in Lucknow in November. Other stops are West Bengal and Bihar, where elections are due soon.
Speaking to TOI over phone from London, Hyderabad MP and MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, said, "We have been building our base in Uttar Pradesh. In Maharashtra, we realized we could have done better if we had started sooner and changed our electoral a strategy. In UP, we have time to s strengthen our presence."
Owaisi's UP dreams were fired by MIM's show in Maharashtra where it bagged two seats, lost three by a narrow margin and finished third in nine constituencies. Overall, MIM polled over 5.13 lakh votes, even though it fielded, in many cases, political novices. The party also cut into the traditional vote banks of the Congress, the NCP and managed to wrest control of some areas where the BJP was believed to be strong. They also appear to have dented the Samajwadi Party in some places. And, the party's dalit candidates also did well.

A file photo of Byculla candidate Waris Yusuf Pathan celebrating his victory along with his supporters after MIM win in Mumbai. (PTI photo)
Owaisi said he would visit Lucknow to inaugurate the MIM office in November, adding that he will also visit Azamgarh, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's parliamentary constituency, where he wants to address mass gatherings.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Azamgarh district administration had blocked Owaisi's repeated attempts to enter the district citing law and order concerns. The two-time Lok Sabha MP, however, said, "I am a free citizen of the country and I intend to go to Azamgarh, come what-may." The MIM strategy pivots on "sharp decline of Muslim representation in Parliament and the failure of secular parties to represent the community adequately". "The absence of a credible Muslim voice in the party has lead to the social, economic and political marginalisation of Muslims. For this, we are asking the community to vote for us, instead of allowing their vote, and voice, to be splintered between the parties that they have traditionally voted for," said Owaisi.
Over the past months, in a series of speeches emphasizing the need for a pan-India Muslim party, Owaisi has talked about the "failure of the 25 crore Indian Muslims to make their presence felt in the LS elections."
For UP, he cited examples of how, despite being nearly 3 crore in number ­ about 19% of the state's population ­ the community has failed to send a single Muslim to Parliament. They feel that Moradabad, Bijnor, Sambhal, Sharanpur, Muzaffarnagar and Meerut went to the BJP owing to a divided Muslim vote.
Apart from the sharp oratory by the Owaisi brothers, the formal pan-India launch of the MIM, experts say, is expected to dent the Congress party the most.
In UP, MIM is expected to eat into the vote share of regional parties that banked on Muslim votes; the SP and the BSP.