MIM to expand base in both States

MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi is reportedly keen on party contesting in as many as 15 Assembly and 4 Lok Sabha seats including Secunderabad. He will field as many Hindu candidates as possible3

Hyderabad: In the fast-changing political scenario following the bifurcation of the State, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is focusing on expanding its base, and also seeking to get rid of the tag that it is a party for Muslims only.

According to party insiders, AIMIM proposes to field more number of Hindu candidates and also woo Seemandhra voters. It is learnt that the party wants to contest about 15 Assembly and 4 Lok Sabha seats including Secunderabad.

It is said that the party leadership has already identified a candidate from Yadav community for Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency.

The party however is yet to take a final decision on whether to have any alliance with Congress or TRS in the state. Party president Assaduddin Owaisi held meetings with district leaders to decide the strategy of party in the Municipal and general Elections. Hundreds of party workers from across the state thronged the party office in Darussalam to chalk out plans for positioning themselves in several districts, including four districts of Rayalaseema.

According to party senior leaders, the party would first decide on Municipal Elections, as to how many seats it would contest and later announce their plans on the General Elections.

Both the Congress and TRS are trying woo the MIM for poll alliance. While TRS leaders KT Rama Rao and T Harish Rao are in talks with Akbaruddin Owaisi, the PCC vice president Shabbir Ali is trying to win over Assad. Interestingly on Thursday, Assad went to Gandhi Bhavan and held discussions with PCC president Botcha Satyanarayana. But according to indications available, the MIM is not inclined to go with TDP. It is also not sure whether it should go with TRS or not. The party feels that if it allies with either of the two parities, it might lose its support from Seemandhra people. Sources said the MIM feels that if the TRS fails to prove its strength in the municipal elections, it could impact the outcome of assembly and Lok Sabha elections of TRS and it may prove to be disadvantageous for the MIM. Hence it wants to tread a cautious path.

“The party sacrificed itself in the earlier last two general elections to strengthen the secular forces. But this time it would prefer to go independently in the elections, a party leader told The Hans India. The party sources claim that it was getting good response not only from the muslims in Rayalaseema but also from the Reddy community. The party leader from Puttaparti Dhanunjaya Reddy exuded confidence that his party would win good number of seats in Anantapur district. According to him, the AIMIM will field candidate from the Hindupur Lok Sabha constituency as well.

Another interesting factor according to Usman Basha, president of the Chittoor district is that many non muslim leaders from Chittoor have been coming to meet Assad and want him to field candidates for assembly from the district.

Meanwhile, the party, which recently launched android mobile application to reach out to masses, claims that it has become one amongst the three top ‘apps’ launched by political parties in the country.

The MIM, according to party leaders has one lakh followers on Facebook.