MIM to take on JDU, Cong allies in J’khand
The Hyderabad based All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), which is working to expand its base in other states across the country has decided to contest the Jharkhand Assembly elections in a big way.
The 81-member Jharkhand Assembly is set to go for a five-phase election from November 30 to December 20.
The AIMIM leadership is of the opinion that the party will have an edge in segments where Muslims are a deciding factor given that the BJP is contesting against one of its oldest alliance partners, the Janata DalUnited (JD-U), which has decided to contest separately. The Grand Alliance of the JMMCongress-RJD has announced their alliance with Hemanth Soren as their Chief Ministerial candidate. Sources in the party revealed that though there is a demand from local leaders of the MIM to contest more seats, MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has told party leaders to concentrate on seats where the party has better chances of winning.
Sources disclosed that the MIM has decided to target Christian, Muslim and Scheduled Tribes voters.
Jharkhand has 28 Scheduled Tribes seats and nine Scheduled Caste Assembly segments and around 20 constituencies where Muslims are predominant and their votes will be the deciding factor. The MIM has already announced its candidates: Bokaro: Mushkoor Siddique; Hazaribagh: Nadeem Khan; Madhupur: Iqbal Ansari; Sarath: Mumtaz Ansari; Lochardaga: Arjun Toppo; Latehar: Pradeep Ganjhu; and Bishrampur: Ashrafi Chandramukhi.
Besides the above segments, the MIM is also looking at Sindri, Jamtara, Ranchi, Rajmahal, Hatia, Mahagama, Pakur, Littipada, Barhet, Maheshpur and Jamshedpur West.
Mr Owaisi told this correspondent that the party’s leaders in Jharkhand are enthusiastic after the party’s maiden entry into the Bihar Assembly by winning the Kishangunj seat in the recent byelection, and they want to contest in more seats.
“We are planning to select the seats in which we have better chances of winning to make our mark in the Jharkhand Assembly,” Mr Owaisi said.