Asaduddin Owaisi
With assembly elections in Jharkhand and Maharashtra set to be held by the end of 2024, the credibility of Asaduddin Owaisi-led party AIMIM is also on the line in Bihar- UP) by-election is under threat. If Owaisi’s party fails to perform well in elections due at the end of the year, its dream of becoming a national party will suffer a major setback. Since 2014, Owaisi has been busy expanding his party, the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, outside Hyderabad.
This is why Owaisi has taken many precautionary measures from campaigning to candidate selection this time. This time, Owaisi’s party has fielded candidates in seats where Muslims play a game-changer role.
Maharashtra’s biggest conflict
Maharashtra is the first politically major state where Asaduddin Owaisi’s party won after Hyderabad. In 2019, Owaisi’s party won the Aurangabad seat in Maharashtra. Two of its MLAs entered the House of Representatives after winning parliamentary elections.
Maharashtra has a Muslim population of 11.5% and the state has at least 40 assembly seats, of which Muslims are the X factor. In Aurangabad, Osmanabad and many parts of Mumbai, Muslims decided their role in victory and defeat.
Under such circumstances, Owaisi has prepared big plans to expand here. However, this time his path was not easy. Owaisi’s party could not win a single seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The reason lies in the one-sided political actions of Muslims.
Before the parliamentary elections, Owaisi’s party kept asking to join the Indian Union, but neither the Congress Party nor the Shiv Sena Party (UBT) made any statement. Now, candidates in Owaisi are trying to win in Maharashtra by playing the emotional card.
Recently, a video of Waris Pathan came to light, in which he cried and begged to vote. Waris is the candidate from Bhiwandi seat.
AIMIM vying for UP 2 seats
Asaduddin Owaisi’s party is also pulling out all the stops in the Northern Alliance by-elections. The party is contesting from 2 seats, AIMIM has fielded candidates in Meerapur in Muzaffarnagar and Kundarki in Moradabad. The key to both seats is in the hands of Muslim voters.
Owaisi campaigned in both places in a demagogic manner. Owaisi has been setting his sights on Uttar Pradesh since the 2022 assembly elections but so far has not been successful in the country’s largest state.
The Muslim population in UP is about 20%. In the 2024 elections, a large number of Muslims switched to the Indian Alliance, resulting in a direct defeat for Owaisi and his allies.
A litmus test of Bihar’s popularity
In the 2020 assembly elections, Asaduddin Owaisi’s party won 5 seats in Bihar. Four MLAs later fled to the RJD. Owaisi made a strong showing in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections but failed.
The four seat by-elections held before the parliamentary election are regarded as the power semi-finals. Owaisi also joins the race for the semi-finals. Owaisi is said to want to put his popularity to the test before the election.
Bihar’s Muslim population is about 17%, which affects more than 50 assembly seats.
