AIMIM readies to contest Bengal poll

KOLKATA: The Hyderabad-based All India Majlis-e-ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has decided to contest the 2021 West Bengal elections and asked chief minister Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to decide whether she considers the party as a friend or a foe.

The AIMIM, led by Asaduddin Owaisi, has never contested any election in Bengal and has no formal committee there.

“It is true that we are fewer in number, but do not dare touch us. We are atom bombs. Didi, we welcome your friendship and enmity as well. You have to decide whether you consider us friends or foes,” AIMIM national spokesperson and Bengal observer, Asim Waqar, tweeted in Hindi.

There has been some tension between the two parties since an AIMIM all-bengal workers’ meet scheduled at Nazrul Mancha, a state-government run auditorium, was cancelled at the last minute. No official at Nazrul Mancha was ready to speak on the matter since the auditorium is under the information and culture department headed by the chief minister.

BJP Bengal unit general secretary Sayantan Basu said the AIMIM was merely trying to bargain with the TMC for an electoral understanding.