Amim in India AIMIM

All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi sought institutional mechanisms like an equal opportunities commission and a cultural diversity index to redress grievances of minorities who feel discriminated against.
Speaking to dna, Owaisi, Lok Sabha MP from Hyderabad, who has been campaigning for party candidate Raja Rehbar Khan for the Bandra (East) bypoll, denied that his party had historic links with the Razakars, who supported the Nizam of Hyderabad and resisted the princely state’s integration.
“I was born in Independent India. Our forefathers rejected Jinnah. We have rejected his two-nation theory. I am a proud Indian Muslim…,” said Owaisi, whose party has two MLAs in Maharashtra.
“If you talk of violence, also talk of the Sunderlal commission report, which estimated that around 30,000 Muslims were killed (in the aftermath of the ‘police action’ in 1948 to merge the state in India),” he said.
Owaisi denied allegations that the AIMIM was a hardline outfit like right-wing Hindu groups. “Am I trying to impose my religion on the whole of India? No. Am I trying to make this a theocratic country? No. Am I saying that only an (adherent of) Islam is a nationalist? No. I am opposed to the basic thinking of the RSS,” he said.
“(There needs to be) a time-frame for all people languishing under terror-related charges. Let a day-to-day hearing be done… the process should be expedited,” Owaisi said, adding the trial of the accused in Malegaon bomb blasts, Aurangabad arms haul and German Bakery blasts convict Mirza Himayat Baig be fast-tracked. The issue of Muslim youths picked up on terror charges has been one of AIMIM’s electoral planks.
Owaisi blamed Congress-NCP for neglecting Muslims. “Overall, Muslims also bear the responsibility because we have been blindly voting for political parties which have not been (interested in our) amelioration,” he said, citing that the Mehmood-ur-Rehman committee exposed the parties.
“The beef ban.. also affects Dalits and is an economic issue,” said Owaisi. Owaisi attacked the BJP-Shiv Sena government and the erstwhile Congress- NCP regime for the short-lived decision to grant quotas to Muslims. In November 2014, the high court stayed the Congress-NCP’s move to grant a 16% Maratha quota and 5% reservation in jobs to Muslims, while not staying quotas for Muslims in education. But the BJP government allowed the Muslim quota ordinance to lapse.

Owaisi brothers to be MIM’s star campaigners…!!!

AURAGABAD: The district unit of the All India Majlis E Ittehadul Muslimeen, in coordination with the party’s Hyderabad-based team, has chalked out a campaigning strategy for the civic polls in Aurangabad. The plan, which is awaiting approval by party president Asaduddin Owaisi, includes road shows, rallies, speeches at public places, door-to-door campaigning by Owaisi brothers, their seven MLAs from Hyderabad and two MLAs from the state. The party president is likely to camp in the city for five consecutive days for campaigning.

MLA Imtiyaz Jaleel said, “Our poll campaigning would highlight city’s development, infrastructure and privatisation of water supply. We do not believe in polarisation of votes and we will ensure that the parties who have been fooling the masses for decades together do not return to power.”

He also said that party’s star campaigners would be Asauddin Owaisi and his brother Akbaruddin Owaisi.

District president Jawed Qureshi said, “The campaigning strategy was finalised at a meeting on Saturday and it has been sent to the party president. We have requested the Owaisi brothers to spend eight days in Aurangabad and are hopeful that at least four to five days will be approved by them.”

Party sources said that the local unit is demanding at least five-day stay of the party president in the city. The party is all set to start its full fledged campaigning from Tuesday. The party is also roping in a few Dalit leaders for campaigning purpose.

Asaduddin Owaisi conducts Paidal Daura in Aurangabad in view of forthcoming civic body polls…!!!

Aurangabad 17 April, 2015: Today AIMIM Supremo Barrister Asaduddin Owaisi conducted Paidal Daura in ?Aurangabad?.

Buoyed after winning two seats in 2014 assembly election in Maharashtra – one of it being the Aurangabad (Central) seat – the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is now aiming at the forthcoming civic body polls in the city by declaring to contest 60 of the 113 wards.
The election to Aurangabad Municipal Corporation is due on April 22.
This will be AIMIM’s maiden attempt to try its luck at the urban body polls by contesting such large number of seats, six months after its maiden foray in the state assembly polls. The party already has 11 corporators in the Nanded civic body.
Interestingly, the party is enthused with the support it is getting from SCs and dalits and hence decided to contest even from the saffron bastions – Gulmandi, Raja Bazar, Khadkeshwar and Aurangpura.

Earlier in February, as many as 15 local leaders including many corporators from different parties has joined AIMIM. Among these were 10 dalits belonging to Panther Republic Party (PRP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Dalit Bahujan Mahasangh and Bheem Shakti.

MIM to appoint Dalit mayor if it wins Aurangabad civic polls…!!!

Aurangabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) has decided to appoint a Dalit face as Aurangabad city mayor if it manages to win this month’s civic elections.

Asaduddin Owaisi, party’s president was in city on Friday for campaigning when he announced that if his party gets majority in the upcoming civic body elections, the mayor and standing committee chairman will be from the Dalit community.
MIM is contesting April 22 civic polls from more than 60 wards out of 113 total wards in the city.
During the address on Friday, Owaisi appealed to the Dalits and minorities to refrain from acting as bonded labours of so called secular parties, who terrorizes them saying that if they are not voted, the saffron parties would come to power.
Owaisi came down heavily on the BJP, Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP for poor infrastructure in the city as well for a series of privatizations, including the controversial parallel water pipeline project.

Owaisi also threatened Congress-NCP combine to not make false allegations against him and his party by terming the MIM to be the ‘B’ team of the BJP and Sena.
“We did a favour by not contesting the Lok Sabha elections. However, if they do not refrain from making false allegations against us, we will contest the next general elections,” he threatened.
He cited reports of the survey conducted by his team and said, “There are 62 wards in the city without proper drainage system, 73 wards lack adequate drinking water facility and 64 wards do not have proper sanitation. The number of people visiting orthopaedic doctors has increased manifold in the city and those ruling the city are responsible for it.”

Of the 113 wards that are scheduled to go to the body polls, 22 are reserved for SC community.

The rise of AIMIM in Maharashtra…!!!

I still remember a telephonic chat I had with the president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Asaduddin Owaisi, on October 16, 2012, after his party had won 11 seats in the municipal elections in Nanded, central Maharashtra. He had sounded a warning bell by wresting these seats from Congress stalwart and former CM Ashok Chavan’s backyard.
“My party will continue to torment the Congress as long as it targets innocent Muslims in the name of terrorism and denies the backward community all-inclusive development. Congress has failed to understand the undercurrent and growing resentment in Muslims. We have been working hard in the erstwhile Hyderabad State region that includes Marathwada (central Maharashtra). We have tasted such thumping victory for the first time in the region, and we will make dents in the Congress in the coming years,” Owaisi had told me then.
The Hyderabad MP’s warning is now showing greater effects. In fact, we saw it coming in last October’s Assembly polls, when AIMIM bagged two seats — one each in Aurangabad and Byculla. Six months after the Assembly polls, the party struck a similar chord to claim 25 seats in the Aurangabad municipal polls, though it was not able to save its poll deposit in the Bandra East Assembly by-poll a couple of weeks ago. AIMIM’s notable achievement in Aurangabad is that it got five non-Muslim corporators elected, thus partially negating the notion that only the Muslim community stands by it.
Aurangabad saw AIMIM taking local Dalits (Hindu and Buddhists) in its fold successfully. And this Dalit-Muslim chemistry is going to pose a real challenge to the depleted Congress. We are not counting the NCP here, because it has at least 40-50 winning segments that are controlled by its regional satraps. The Congress does not enjoy NCP-like luxury; it has been relying heavily on Dalit and Muslim votes for the past several decades.
In doldrums after their crushing defeat in both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, Congress leaders now curse their fate. They hope the ‘Modi mania’ to subside gradually and the BJP to falter in the matters of governance, so that they get a chance to bounce back. However, going by AIMIM’s upsurge, the Congress may not be able to woo the Muslim and Dalit communities anytime soon. The Owaisi brothers are expected to storm many other Muslim-dominated towns in the state in the forthcoming local self-government elections, where Dalits, too, play a decisive role.
Congress leaders, who were earlier blamed for facilitating AIMIM’s entry into the state, are now targeting the BJP-Sena for encouraging AIMIM. They say that the ideologies of the two — the AIMIM and the BJP-Sena — are supplementary to each other and help in polarising votes. Surprisingly, Congressmen are hard pressed for answers when one asks them why their party didn’t try hard enough to make strong leaders among Muslims. The only exception was the late A R Antulay, who had won Indira Gandhi’s trust to become the state’s only Muslim CM. He enjoyed a brief tenure, after which the Muslims were denied top positions and influential departments in the state government. The Samajwadi Party first tapped Congress’ failure successfully in this regard, and, now it’s AIMIM’s turn to thrive on the resentment among Muslims.
AIMIM’s next targets are Mumbai, Thane, Bhiwandi, Malegaon and Dhule, where it has a sizeable following. Other than the Congress, AIMIM has also damaged the pro-Muslim Samajwadi Party, whose presence is also on the wane. Muslims seem to have accepted AIMIM as a formidable alternative at a time when the BJP and Shiv Sena are in power and the Congress is condemned.
AIMIM’s success also raises big concerns, especially in sensitive places like Mumbai where the Hindu-Muslim rift exists, but has remained largely invisible since the post-Babri riots. Laced with equally fundamental sensitivities, parties like Shiv Sena are not expected to sit idle. It was the Sena which made the most of anti-Muslim propaganda in central Maharashtra, where AIMIM found its first foothold. The Sena has benefited in a large way from AIMIM in the Aurangabad elections and Bandra (East) Assembly by-polls. The BJP, too, has these factors calculated in its scheme of things for the future.

Owaisi’s MIM scores big in Aurangabad, India polls…!!!

COurtesy : Arab News
The Hyderabad-based Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) party has performed impressively in the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) elections winning 25 out of the 53 seats it contested. Led by MP Asaduddin Owaisi, it emerged as the second-largest party in the 113-member civic body. The results were declared on Thursday.
The party, which vows to empower the downtrodden and underprivileged, was contesting the municipal elections for the first time. The party was spurred on by a fabulous performance during assembly elections last year when two MIM candidates, Imtiaz Jaleel (Aurangabad Central) and Waris Pathan (Byculla, Mumbai), emerged victorious.
The Shiv Sena and the BJP, which rule the state of Maharashtra of which Aurangabad is one of the major cities, emerged as overall winners. They contested the elections separately but are expected to form an alliance. Shiv Sena won 29 seats and the BJP 22. With the help of smaller parties, such as the Republican Party of India (RPI), and other independents, the two biggest parties are in a comfortable position to fill the three important posts of mayor, deputy mayor and standing committee chairman.
The MIM’s handsome win has proved that its victory in the assembly elections was no flash in the pan. The Congress, at whose expense the MIM scored big, managed to win only 10 seats. Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was reduced to one digit. Significantly, the Congress managed to beat senior MIM leader Javed Qureshi who was in the eye of a storm for allegedly mishandling ticket distribution.
The MIM tally would have touched 30 had some rebels not contested against the official candidates. Nearly five of the corporators who won as independents were MIM functionaries. They are expected to join the party, swelling its ranks.
The Owaisi brothers stayed put in the city in the run-up to the elections, delivering hard-hitting speeches and nipping in the bud any rebellion from disgruntled members.
Asaduddin Owaisi, who has repeatedly asserted during newspaper interviews and television talk shows that his party was not just about Muslims, scored another significant political point during the AMC elections.
Out of the 53 seats it contested, the MIM fielded 12 non-Muslim candidates, mostly underprivileged Hindus referred to as Dalits. Of these 12, five non-Muslims — Sangeeta Waghule, Lata Nikhalge, Gangadhar Dhage, Sarita Borde and Vikas Edke — emerged victorious.
“This takes the sting out of the opposition campaign that MIM is a Muslim-only party,” said a political analyst while speaking to Arab News on Thursday. “In the past, the MIM has been instrumental in facilitating the election of Dalits as mayors of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, a fact that MIM rivals try conveniently to forget.”
“The MIM performance shows that people want development and are tired of the false promises made by other parties,” Jaleel was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India. “The results also show that people’s power is greater than money power.”
The party will now eye the Mumbai municipal corporation elections which are due in 2017.

MIM’s impressive performance in the Aurangabad municipal elections is bad news for the Congress and NCP…!!!

The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance would be pleased with the results of the Aurangabad municipal corporation. The alliance has managed to win 58 out of the total 113 seats. But more than that the saffron combine would be thrilled at the fact that they have finally achieved the kind of communal polarisation they have wanted in the state. Asaduddin Owaisi’s Majlis-e-Ittehadul managed an impressive performance winning 23 seats, reducing the Congress and NCP to 10 and 3 respectively.

It is evident that while the BJP-Sena grabbed a huge chunk of the Hindu vote, a majority of Muslim have shifted from the Congress and the NCP to the MIM. In Owaisi and the MIM, the BJP-Sena finally have a figure whom they can construct as Afzal Khan in Chhatrapati Shivaji’s Maharashtra.

This was evident in the manner in which the saffron combine, Sena in particular, spewed venom at Owaisi in the recent past. Even Sanjay Raut’s “disenfranchise Muslims” demand was written in the context of the MIM’s rise in the state.

But will MIM be able to replicate its success in other states as well or will its expansion outside its pocket borough of Hyderabad remain restricted to Maharashtra alone?

Owaisi’s ambitions aren’t as grandiose as they are made out to be. He doesn’t seek, as some commentators have asserted, to become the sole spokesperson of the Muslim community. The use of the term “sole spokesman” is itself loaded, associated as it is with the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Even in its bastion Hyderabad, MIM has taken decisions that one wouldn’t expect from a “Muslim party”. For instance, on three occasions it has made Hindu leaders the mayor of Hyderabad.

His plan seems a more limited one: to take up cudgels on behalf of the Muslim community in states where the “secular” parties have completely failed to safeguard their interests.

Maharashtra was a perfect place for such an expansion.

The erstwhile Congress-NCP government in the state had become unpopular with the Muslim community. According to a paper prepared the All India Milli Council in 2012, Maharashtra was ranked second, after Madhya Pradesh, in terms of “arbitrary arrest of Muslim youth on terror charges”. Even though the Congress-NCP made a last ditch effort to support ahead of the Vidhan Sabha elections by approving 5 per cent reservation for Muslims, it didn’t seem to have cut much ice with the community. And the BJP struck down the quota soon after coming to power, adding insult to the community’s injury.

Given the BJP-Sena’s open hostility towards Muslims, with the scrapping of the quota and the beef ban that has harmed the livelihood of lakhs of people, it is hardly surprising that many Muslims in Maharashtra see Owaisi as someone who will fight on their behalf.

MIM made its first impact in Maharashtra politics in 2012, by winning 11 out of 81 seats in the Nanded Municipal Corporation. In last year’s Vidhan Sabha elections, MIM won two seats Aurangabad Central and Byculla and dented the Congress in a number of other Muslim dominated constituencies. The fact that Muslims in Nanded and Aurangabad are culturally similar to Hyderabadi Muslims also worked in MIM’s favour.

These favourable factors might not exist in other states, thereby constricting the MIM’s expansion efforts and this is something that Owaisi seems to recognise.

For instance, Bihar isn’t a priority as the Muslim in the state are certain to rally behind the reunited Janata Parivar duo of Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad. It shelved its plans in Delhi ahead of the Vidhan Sabha elections, perhaps expecting a complete consolidation of Muslims behind AAP.

Owaisi’s next priority seems to be Uttar Pradesh where the Samajwadi Party government did lose its credibility among Muslims to some extent after the Muzaffarnagar riots. The state government is clearly rattled as it denied Owaisi permission to hold rallies in Azamgarh, Meerut and Allahabad.