The entry of Asaduddin Owaisi led AIMIM has already disturbed the equation of the ‘secular’ parties in the Bihar legislative elections and now the ‘secular’ parties across the country are scared of the entry of Owaisi led party. The party that lost most in Bihar due to the entry of Owaisi is Congress, because, Muslims were the vote bank of the grand old party in the state.
Now Owaisi plans to go pan-national and has already declared that the party will contest the West Bengal assembly election in 2021. Another state where presently Congress is in power, that is, Rajasthan, Owaisi is planning a grand entry. The supporters of AIMIM are already planning a gathering which will be addressed by Owaisi.
A large number of Owaisi supporters from Rajasthan became hyperactive on social media after the party’s spectacular performance in the Bihar assembly election. The Muslim voters are influential on 40 seats out of 200 in the Rajasthan assembly, and so far, the community votes en masse for the Congress party. As of now, there are 10 Muslims MLAs in Rajasthan assembly and all of them are from Congress party.
But the entry of Owaisi could make a dent into Congress’ vote bank as seen in Bihar, where Congress leaders who were MLA for 6-7 terms lost the election to the party. Many Congress leaders who had not got tickets in the previous elections are now approaching Owaisi to ensure AIMIM fights in the next assembly election that is scheduled in 2023.
The entry of Owaisi will weaken the Congress and strengthen BJP, the primary opposition. AIMIM ensured NDA’s victory in Bihar and gave a blow to RJD led Mahagathbandhan and the same could be witnessed in Rajasthan, too.
AIMIM is fast emerging as a threat to every ‘secular’ party which relies on Muslim votes. Be it Congress across India, TMC in West Bengal, NCP in Maharashtra, YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh, or TRS in Telangana. For the secular parties, AIMIM is emerging as a bigger threat than BJP as Owaisi’s entry disturbs their political equation and significantly lowers their chances of victory.
West Bengal has three Muslim majority districts and many constituencies with the Muslim majority population, and the division of Muslim votes among TMC and AIMIM would result in BJP’s victory as seen in Bihar as well as in many other states. So, for Mamata Banerjee, Owaisi is a bigger threat than Modi.
In the upcoming Greater Hyderabad Municipal Polls (GHMC) which are scheduled on December 1, Owaisi led AIMIM is a bigger threat for TRS than BJP because if the Muslims are voting for AIMIM, Hindus of the city would naturally tilt towards BJP instead of choosing ‘secular’ TRS. KCR has announced a list of sops including free water and electricity to ensure that Hindu votes do not slip away and the effect of these sops would be measured from the results on December 4.
In Rajasthan, Owaisi is a threat to Congress, In UP, to SP and BSP, in Kerala, to Communist parties as well as Congress and so on. All the anti-BJP forces are now more scared of AIMIM than the saffron party.
