Will Owaisi Emerge as Kingmaker After UP Elections?

HYDERABAD: The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) under the leadership of Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi (52) is slowly trying to make inroads into Uttar Pradesh legislative body in the upcoming Assembly elections.
This is not the first time AIMIM is contesting in Uttar Pradesh. In 2017, the party had contested 38 of 403 seats but failed to get any seats. It polled about two lakh votes in the seats it contested. Owaisi believes that in these five years, his party has become stronger and he is now confident of getting good number of seats out of the 100 Assembly seats.

Political analysts believe that the London-educated ‘ Barrister Saheb’,  as Owasi is popularly known here, has been able to connect with the 19 percent Muslims in the hinterlands of UP. He has spoken extensively about political strength, leadership, and participation needed by them so they can end discrimination against their community and get their due rights.

Whether or not AIMIM forges an alliance with any other party, they are willing to go alone in the upcoming polls. In the year 2019  AIMIM won the Aurangabad seat in Maharashtra and also succeeded in retaining its tally of two seats in the Maharashtra Assembly.

Though AIMIM attempts to expand its base in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu failed miserably, it succeeded in Bihar. In the 2020 elections, it won five of the 20 seats it contested which was a huge achievement for the party.

Buoyed by this success, it needs to be seen whether the Hyderabad MP Owaisi will turn kingmaker in the politically significant state of UP, where BJP, Samajwadi Party, Congress, and other key players are already in the fray in one of the largest democratic elections in the country.

Also Read: Owaisi Trying to Incite Sentiments in UP, Says Yogi Adityanath