AIMIM opens account in TN municipal polls with two seats

Hyderabad:   The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) led by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has opened its account in Tamil Nadu by winning two seats in municipal elections.

The party won two wards in Vaniyambadi municipality where elections were held on February 19 and the results declared on February 22.  Overall,  results of the local body polls in Tamil Nadu has been gone heavily in favour of the ruling DMK-led alliance,  reported news agency IANS.

AIMIM had contested 16 wards in Vaniyambadi and won two. Niyamatullah and R. Nabeela were the two succesful AIMIM candidates in the 36-member municipality.

Muslim League had contested the municipal polls in alliance with the ruling DMK. In both the wards won by AIMIM, Muslim League candidates finished second.

According to AIMIM leaders, Nabila secured 50.46 per cent votes in ward number 19, while Nematullah polled 34.10 per cent votes in ward number four.

AIMIM Tamil Nadu unit president T. S. Vakeel Ahmed thanked people for electing two party candidates. Party in charge Rehmatullah Tayyab and party corporator in Hyderabad Rashiduddin Faraz had campaigned for the party.

The victory in two municipal wards in Tamil Nadu comes as a shot in the arm for AIMIM which has been making consistent efforts to expand its influence in various states, and Tamil Nadu as a neighbouring state for the party's headquarters in Hyderabad, holds more significance for such ambitions of the party.

However,  AIMIM's bid to win a seat in the Tamil Nadu Assembly held in the election held in April last year did not succeed.  It had fielded candidates in three constituencies under an alliance with Dinakaran-led AMMK but drew a blank.

Tamil Nadu is the fourth state in south India after Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to have AIMIM's representation in municipal bodies.

AIMIM has two MPs, one each from Telangana and Maharashtra and 14 MLAs - seven in Telangana, five in Bihar and two in Maharashtra.

The win in Tamil Nadu came amid the party's attempts to open its account in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi is running a hectic campaign in Uttar Pradesh. The party has announced plans to contest 100 seats in Uttar Pradesh.