The cat is out of the bag! The All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi will beard Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Gujarat den in 2022. The AIMIM will contest the next assembly elections in Gujarat in alliance with Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP), party leader Syed Imtiaz Jaleel declared on Saturday. Jaleel, who is an MP from Aurangabad, pointed out that there has been a demand from the people of Gujarat that AIMIM should fight the polls in the state. Gujarat is scheduled to go for the Legislative Assembly elections in 2022. “Following the demand, AIMIM has decided to contest the next assembly polls in Gujarat in alliance with Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP),” Jaleel disclosed to ANI.
“We will be contesting the election in Gujarat because of the people of the state want that the AIMIM party should contest elections. Party chief Asaduddin Owaisi has asked me to visit Gujarat and hold discussions with BTP leaders,” he informed. Jaleel said that the decision to contest the Gujarat elections is significant and the party will work to make its presence felt in the state. “The prime focus of the party across the country is to beat the BJP,” he observed.
“We would like to have alliances with like-minded parties. We feel the greatest threat for the country is the BJP. The decision on alliances will be taken by our party president,” Jaleel stated. He mentioned that the party had given a good performance in Bihar polls and was now working for a strong performance in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and other states.
Let me analyse this sudden fast-paced development for the readers of BeyondHeadlines. The alliance between the AIMIM and the BTP is a fall out of the treachery by the Congress. There was an alliance between the Congress and the BTP in the recently held panchayat elections. In Dungarpur, the BTP fell short by one vote to capture the municipal chief post. The other side of the Sangh Parivar coin – Congress joined its natural ally and the original side of the Sangh Parivar to defeat the BTP. Similar treachery was done in some other municipalities due to which the BTP lost power. This incensed the BTP to walk out of the pre-poll alliance. The BTP has now decided to seek a reliable alliance partner in the AIMIM.
The local body elections are due in Gujarat next year. It will be a sort of semi-final before the Assembly polls. The BTP is strong in Narmada and Bharuch. There is a sizeable Muslim population in Bharuch. The AIMIM – BTP alliance can give the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a run for its money. The Tribal-Muslim alliance will be a formidable one on paper. Can the BTP transfer its votes to the AIMIM? Can it convince its cadres to work hand in hand with the AIMIM cadres can be assessed in the local body polls? If things go well, then the alliance may prosper into Assembly polls.
Political prudence demands that Asaduddin Owaisi weighs the pros and cons of this alliance with the BTP. It is significant to note that the BTP like the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has a love affair with the BJP! It may be recalled that in June 2020, BTP president Mahesh Vasava and his father Chhotu Vasava, BTP founder and MLA from Jhagadia constituency in Bharuch, had abstained from voting in the Rajya Sabha polls, thus paving the way for the BJP’s victory on three of the four seats. Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil won the other one seat.
It is in the above background that Asaduddin Owaisi assess the progress of the alliance before deciding about the alliance for the Assembly polls. Otherwise, it could end up as a trap by the BJP to corner Asaduddin Owaisi. Narendra Modi can find his new enemy in Asaduddin Owaisi as his Ahmed ‘Miyan’ (Patel) is no more. It is in public memory how Modi took his enemity at the personal level and targeted Ahmed Patel. Modi had incited the Gujaratis in his political rallies that ‘Ahmed Miyan’ will become the chief minister of Gujarat. It implied rhetorical posturing that if the Hindus do not vote for the BJP, a Muslim will become the chief minister of Gujarat. And the rest is history.
The coming two years will decide if Asaduddin Owaisi can beard Narendra Modi in his Gujarat den. There is a bright chance for Asaduddin Owaisi to take Hyderabad’s Nizami Culture of peace and harmony to give relief to the waiting people of Gujarat – Hindus, Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis, and all others. Of course, the genociders will try with all their might to thwart the attempt.
Let Gujarat write a new chapter of tolerance, love, and harmony.
