Sher e Deccan: Akbar Owaisi

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6 May 2015

Surprise victory for MIM in Aurangabad…!!!

The Hyderabad-based All India Majli-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) led by the Owaisi brothers – Asaduddin Owaisi and Akbaruddin Owaisi – has sprung a surprise by winning 26 of the total 113 wards in the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).
The Shiv Sena-BJP alliance got 52 seats, Others/Independents 23 and NCP 3. The MIM became the second largest party in Aurangabad, the headquarters of the Marathwada region. Shiv Sena’s five-term MP Chandrakant Khaire leads the party in Aurangabad.
For MIM it is a major victory, after it won 11 of the 81 seats in Nanded municipal polls on its debut in 2012. In the 2014 Maharashtra Legisaltive Assembly elections, the MIM won two seats – Imtiyaz Jaleel from Aurangabad Central and Waris Pathan from Byculla.

“It is wrong to say that we are fanning communal issues. We have given tickets to all sections of the society, including Dalits and they have won the elections….let me make it clear once again that the MIM stands for secularism and uniform development,” Pathan said. “The Sena-BJP would have to work now as we would be sitting in the opposition,” Jaleel said.

The NCP, however, said the Shiv Sena and MIM had a hidden understanding. In the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, the NCP unit spearheaded by former excise minister Ganesh Naik won 52 of the 111 wards.
The Shiv Sena and BJP alliance won 38 seats, Congress 10 and Others/Independents 5. “We will reach the magic figure of 56…some rebels are in touch with me, we also want the Congress to stay with us,” Naik said. After his loss in the Vidhan Sabha elections, there were reports that Naik would switch over to the BJP, however, that did not happen and the results now come as a major boost to the Naik family. The Sena-BJP also won the municipal councils of Badlapur and Ambernath in the outskirt of Mumbai city. In municipal council of Bokhar in Nanded district, the hometown of former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, the Congress won 12 of the total
19 seats. – See more at: http://m.deccanherald.com/content/473386/surprise-victory-mim-aurangabad.html/#sthash.42IjjEGm.dpuf

MIM stops Saffron chariot in Aurangabad with Dalit support, Sena fumes…!!!

Mumbai: Apparently disturbed by the spectacular performance of Hyderabad-based All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in the Aurangabad civic polls, the Shiv Sena said on Friday it does not augur well for communal amity in Maharashtra.

MIM Aurangabad

“It’s a matter of concern how the AIMIM has got strength from Muslim localities in Sambhajinagar where the Owaisi brothers had challenged to uproot the saffron flag and plant their green flag,” the Shiv Sena said.
Shiv Sena calls Aurangabad as ‘Sambhajinagar’ and also been demanding it should be renamed after the great Maratha king instead of the Mughal emperor.

Ruing how some Dalit and non-Muslim candidates have also won on AIMIM tickets, the Sena accused the party of “playing dirty politics to divide the Dalit-Hindu votes”, in an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamana.

“If the party, which was formed for the interests of only Muslim community, continues to get such support even from the Dalits, it’s alarm time for not only social unity but also the Ambedkar movement,” the edit warned.
Pointing out that in the last (October 2014) assembly elections, the AIMIM’s leads in 50 civic wards (of total 113) of Aurangabad had emboldened it to dream of capturing the civic body in the Wedneday polls.

“Though that dream failed to materialise, the very fact that 26 candidates of the ‘poisonous party’ have been elected to the civic body is definitely not a good sign…it was like a ‘crusade’ (religious war) in Sambhajinagar which the Shiv Sena has won and in which the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party were blown away like dried leaves,” the Sena said.
However, despite the ‘saffron victory’ in Aurangabad, the Shiv Sena feels the ‘green upsurge’ spells danger since a communal party like AIMIM is “unifying Muslim votes under an Islamic banner”.

“Now, the Hindus must open their eyes to the poll results and unite against it by discarding their own differences; This is the clear lesson from the Aurangabad civic elections,” the Sena urged.
The edit followed the AIMIM’s stunning performance in the April 22 Aurangabad civic elections in which Sena secured 28 seats, the AIMIM stood second with 26 seats, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came third with 24 seats in the 113-member house.
The Congress bagged only 11 seats, while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) came home with two seats, and smaller parties and independents captured 23 seats, with AIMIM poised to become the main opposition party in the city renowned for its world-famous Ajanta-Ellora cave temples.
Though the Sena-BJP alliance secured control by bagging a total 52 seats, it still falls short of a simple majority of 57, necessitating the support of rebels and independents.
The AIMIM made a soft entry in Maharashtra in 2012 bagging 11 seats in the 81-member Nanded Municipal Corporation elections that year.
Progressing steadily, it is now preparing for the forthcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections due early-2017, and other important civic bodies like Pune and Thane.

MIM’s victory to echo beyond Maha…!!!

The Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) fought a high-octane Aurangabad Municipal election and with vigour that is not generally associated with civic polls. The party entered the fray against the backdrop of a defeat of its Bandra East Raja Rahbar candidate in a by-election where he received only about 15,000 votes, around 8,000 less than his tally in the previous contest. It was observed that the Muslims in Bandra had largely voted for the Congress candidate Narayan Rane, who lost to BJP.

It was primarily on account of this result, that it was construed that the performance of the MIM in Aurangabad would be less than what the party has been expecting. But the MIM sprung a surprise and won 25 of the 53 seats it contested and became the second largest party after the Shiv Sena with 29 seats. The BJP had to be content with 22 seats in the AMC which had a total strength of 113.
The results go out to prove several points. One, that the MIM’s winning two seats in the Maharashtra assembly elections—one from Aurangabad Central and another from Byculla – was not a flash in the pan phenomenon. There was a craving for a new party then and it continues to exist. Two, it has bigger plans for Mumbai and Bengaluru municipal elections and the assembly polls in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. Three, the MIM has improved its relations with the Dalits in Maharashtra. Of the 53 wards it contested, the MIM gave tickets to 13 non-Muslims – 12 Dalits and one BC. Of these, four Dalits and a BC have emerged victorious.

The slogan that Jai Meem(Muslims); Jai Bheem (Ambedkar) appears to be gaining strength.
The possibilities of Aurangabad being ready for the MIM became clear to the leadership in Hyderabad with the results of the recent assembly elections. From Aurangabad the party had fielded three members in the assembly elections of which only one — Imtiaz Jaleel — romped home from Aurangabad Central. The other two lost but won considerable votes. The number of votes Jaleel received was 61,843; in Aurangabad East Dr Abdul Ghaffar Quadri scored 60,268, taking up party position to two in the assembly segment where the BJP had won. The MIM supported candidate of Republican Panther Party Gangadhar Sukhdev Gaade could manage in Aurangabad West 35,348 votes where Shiv Sena won and BJP stood second. The MIM had secured third position. The total votes the MIM had garnered in Aurangabad were thus 1,57,459.

With this figure in mind the MIM sent Nampally legislator Jafar Hussain Meraj to consolidate the party’s position by launching a membership drive and also through other means. Aurangabad Central MLA Imtiaz Jaleel and Aurangabad unit president Javed Quraishi were asked to support Meraj. When the civic polls were announced, the craving for party tickets was so great that it had to struggle to choose the right candidate for the right ward. Over 530 candidates had approached for 53 seats. Though a four-member local committee had been formed to decide on the candidates, serious fights broke out among the potential contestants and their supporters. At the end, at least five candidates who were denied ticket decided to fight independently. All of them have won.

What is working in favour of the MIM are two things. Chief among them is the failure of the secular parties, both the Congress and the NCP, to rise to the expectations of Muslims in times of need. Since there was no alternative, the Muslims were sailing with them. Now that MIM has emerged as an alternative force, they have decided to throw their weight behind it.
According to an observer in Aurangabad, the Muslims or Dalits do not believe that all their woes could be solved by the MIM. But they are looking at MIM as a party that would voice their grievances and desperations and strive to correct the situation.

Another observer said that the impressive victory of the MIM would give more confidence to its leadership to enter the poll frays elsewhere, especially in Bengaluru, UP and West Bengal.

There is also a word of caution. The civic polls should not be taken as an indication that MIM has come of age and could plunge into any political situation head on.
The MIM’s performance in Aurangabad would definitely help it in Maharashtra. But it could be seen as a party expressing the aspirations of Muslims and other marginalized sections only when it shows its strength in UP or West Bengal.