The Hyderabad-based hardline All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) stormed on to the political scene in Maharashtra, winning two seats and walking away with a substantial chunk of the Muslim vote. Ironically, the AIMIM, which received massive support from the Muslim youth, ended up with more seats than the Raj Thackeray-led MNS, which got only one seat.
Campaigning on emotional issues, the Owaisi brothers — Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi and the fiery Telangana MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi, known for his communally-charged speeches — who run the party, managed to make inroads into the Muslim community in Maharashtra, which forms 10.6% of the population and is the core vote base of the Congress. It also fielded Dalits on reserved seats.
The AIMIM's success mirrors that of another party — the Samajwadi Party in Maharashtra in 1995, when it won three seats but petered out later.
Though only two (journalist Imtiaz Jaleel from Aurangabad and Waris Pathan from Byculla) of the 26 nominees fielded by the AIMIM could win, it gave a scare to established parties in many seats. For instance, AIMIM's Dr Gaffar Qadri lost the Aurangabad East by a slender margin of 4,260 votes to Atul Save (BJP). Rajendra Darda (Congress), the sitting MLA, lost here indicating that the Muslims had shifted from the party. MIM also gave a tough time to former chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde's daughter Praniti (Solapur Central) and Congress MLA Omprakash Pokarna (Nanded North) and mopped up significant votes in Versova, Vandre East and Nanded South.
Clips of fiery speeches by the Owaisis were circulated on social media, and it worked as a force multiplier. The Congress and NCP, which had been trounced by the Shiv Sena-BJP-led alliance in the Lok Sabha polls, had granted 5% quotas for Muslims on religious grounds to consolidate their vote base. However, this strategy failed to convince the Muslims.
"The main reason for our success was the injustice against Muslims," said AIMIM MLA from Malakpeth in Hyderabad, Ahmed bin Abdullah Balala, who was among those handling the party's campaign in Maharashtra. "They were only treated as vote bank. No one addressed their real issues," said Balala.
"Honestly, there was no alternative. The Congress was exploiting the minority community. They considered Muslims and Dalits as vote banks without bothering to give them a share in power," said Jaleel, a former NDTV journalist.
He added that the Congress was using the pretext of secularism to corner Muslim votes, putting the fear of a Shiv Sena and BJP win in their hearts. "We are not here to spread communal hatred or for hate politics. We want to ensure development of all," said Jaleel.
The AIMIM which has its roots in the 'Razakars', who supported the Nizam of Hyderabad and resisted the state's integration into India, secured a political opening in the 2012 Nanded civic polls in Marathwada, where it won 11 seats by campaigning on Muslim youths from the Marathwada region being picked up on terror charges and the anti-Muslim violence in Assam, among other issues.
Incidentally, Kasim Razvi who founded the Razakars hailed from Latur in Marathwada, while the Owaisis hail from nearby Ausa.
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