The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) on its 66th Youm-e-Tasees or Revival Day celebrated on March 2, reaffirmed its commitment to fighting the Bharatiya Janata Party and espousing the cause of Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis as well as other marginalised groups.
The party’s revival day marks the moment when the reins of the erstwhile Majlis were handed over to the Abdul Wahid Owaisi, a lawyer, who was current AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi’s grandfather. In his first speech as the president of a different manifestation of the Majlis, the lawyer spoke of improving socio-economic conditions of Muslims and invoked the Constitution of India.
Cut to 2024, in his speech at Darussalaam, barely a few weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the current AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi spoke of the party’s struggles to expand its base over the last six decades.
Thus far, the party has announced its intentions of fighting the Aurangabad, Kishanganj, and Hyderabad Lok Sabha seats. In the recent past, the party hinted at contesting the Mumbai seat as well. In the same vein, on February 19, at a well attended meeting in Akola in Maharashtra, Mr.Owaisi threw a challenge to the Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena, Bharatiya Janata Party, as he announced that “four Muslim MPs will be triumphant from Maharashtra”.
Sources said the party’s leadership in other States has been urging Darussalaam, the party’s headquarters, to contest a larger number of seats. “Our State units from Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand. Maharashtra, and Bihar have been urging the party leadership to field more candidates. Conversations over are ongoing. And if you look closely, it is as if we have been in campaign mode for the Lok Sabha elections since the Telangana assembly elections were announced,” a party functionary said.
The party leadership has been making efforts reach out to constituents by organising job fairs. Mr.Owaisi has been laying foundation stones connected to development projects. Internally, the leadership has been taking constant feedback from workers, including those who are a part of its primary units, and reviewing strategies, with certain changes having been made.
With the BJP announcing the candidature of K.Madhavi Latha, chairperson of Virinchi Hospital, and the likelihood of Majlis Bachao Tehreek spokesperson Amjed Ullah Khan taking on Mr.Owaisi on his home turf, sources said that the party remains unfazed. “Our president’s connect with the people of Hyderabad constituency is strong. Having said that we have constantly been among the people,” the source said.
