Muslim party debuts, wins in Byculla and Aurangabad

MUMBAI: All India Majlis-e-Ittihadul Muslameen (MIM) made a smashing debut in Maharashtra. It not only won two seats—advocate Waris Pathan from Byculla) and Syed Imtiaz Jaleel in Aurangabad Central, but also performed impressively in around a dozen seats out of the 23 it contested, securing 0.9% of the popular vote.
In a way, MIM has replaced Samajwadi Party as the “party of the Muslims” in the state.MIM president and MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s younger brother and MLA Akbaruddin’s fiery speeches emphasizing Muslim “victimhood” and relentless attacks on so-called secular leaders have driven many Muslims away from Congress and NCP and into the arms of MIM.
“We did well because Muslims realized that Congress-NCP have only used them for years. The arrest of Muslim youths on false terror charges, the community’s continued deprivation and their disillusionment with Congress, NCP and SP helped us emerge as their preferred choice,” said Asaduddin. He rubbished the charge that BJP had perhaps propped up MIM to “cut into the secular votes”. “It is a facile, baseless charge by frustrated Congress-NCP people. They should introspect before they become completely irrelevant,” he said.
In 2009, MIM had fought just one seat (Nanded South) and lost, but it already had 11 corporators in the Nanded municipal corporation, the party’s first knock on Maharashtra’s door. Many dismissed it as a “localised effect” as Nanded was once part of ‘Nizamland’. But in this assembly election MIM has come second at many places, including Parbhani, Aurangabad East; it was third in Nanded South, Kurla, Versova, Bandra East and Mumbadevi. “The fact that we came second and third in so many seats shows that we would have won more seats had we come to the state a little earlier,” said Owaisi adding that he would try to strengthen the party in Maharashtra and participate in every future election here.
Waris Pathan’s victory in Byculla against Madhu (Dada) Chavan (BJP) with 1,357 votes heralded MIM’s entry into the island city. “The political pundits had not believed us when we said we would win. Now Allah has proved us right,” said Suhail Ahmed, an MIM supporter. MIM’s Telengana MLA Ahmed Balala who managed Pathan’s campaign said, “The Muslim voters have put faith in us. We will not disappoint them.”