Mumbai: Asaduddin Owaisi, the leader of All India Ittehad ul Muslimeen (AIMIM), urged the Maharashtra Congress to work with the party on Friday, October 11. In order to defeat the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena party under Eknath Shinde in the next Assembly elections, he urged for the unity of the Opposition.
Asaduddin Owaisi blasted the Congress after the party lost the elections in Haryana, accusing the party of calling itself the B-Team of the BJP and attributing its losses to the AIMIM in the areas where it is present. “I wasn’t there or else they would blame it on ‘the B-team’. I also decided to sit by and watch the drama. They lost there and because of who?” questioned Owaisi, Siasat reported.
Despite his absence in Haryana, he said that the Congress was still perplexed by the cause of their defeat.
“Samajh mei nahi aara harney waloun ko. ‘Arey Sherwani toh nahi aayi yaha pe. Sar pe topi, dadhi wala toh nahi aaya bhadkao bhashan dene. Hum kaisa haar gaye?’ (They are unable to comprehend their loss. That man in Sherwani did not come here. The one with a head cap and beard did not come to deliver an inciting speech. How did we lose here? ‘” said Owaisi slamming the grand old party.
He also pleaded with Congress to unite the opposition in order to destroy the BJP.
“Samjhao meri baat ko. Modi ku harana hai na toh tumko sab ko saath lekar chalna padega. Tum akele kuch nahi kar paogey. (Try and understand what I am trying to say. If you want to defeat Modi, you will have to unite the Opposition and walk alongside them. You will not be able to do anything alone.)”
The Congress and NCP (Sharad Pawar) have been approached by Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) to create an alliance with the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections.
AIMIM intends to contest in 28 constituencies that are Muslim dominated. Imtiaz Jaleel, a former MP and a leader of AIMIM affirmed that the presidents of both parties have been sent a formal proposal. “We consulted AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi and sent a letter to the Congress and NCP (SP),” Jaleel said as per PTI.
He questioned the Congress and NCP's choice to partner with Shiv Sena (UBT), which he said had only lately accepted secularism, and proposed that AIMIM might similarly be part of the MVA alliance.
Jaleel underlined that AIMIM might present a serious challenge in 28 seats and advised against fielding a large number of candidates because doing so might help the BJP. Additionally, he stated that AIMIM is willing to contest for fewer seats if needed.
November is predicted to see new elections for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly. As of right now, the BJP is leading with 103 seats, followed by the NCP (41), Congress (40), Shiv Sena (UBT) (15), NCP (SP) (13), and others (29).
There are now two MLAs from Malegaon Central and Dhule City in Maharashtra, representing the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM. Additionally, 25 out of the 113 Corporators in Maharashtra belong to AIMIM.