AIMIM has long been winning around a dozen Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh. Last year, it made a debut in Maharashtra Assembly when two of its candidates won the election.
Saiyed Danish for IndiaTomorrow.net,
Lucknow, Feb 16: The roads leading to the historic Rafah-e-Aam Club near city station in Lucknow are jammed, loudspeakers are tied up to electric poles to make the speech audible to others living in half a kilometer radius, scores of youths are thronging the rally ground at the club, every now and then a few tricolors are raised amid green flags of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). Then a long, white SUV enters the ground and halts a few metres ahead of the stage. A tall, strapping man emerges from the car and heads towards the stage followed by the dramatic signature slogan ‘Dekho dekho kaun aaya, sher aaya, sher aaya’ by the followers. One by one speakers come and address the gathering with a pinch of ‘shayari’ or Urdu poetry as their leader quietly waits for his turn. After all it was Asadudin Owaisi’s rally in support of his party candidate Mohammad Irfan Siddiqui from Lucknow (Central) assembly seat. He is facing Congress leader Maroof Khan as the SP-Congress alliance candidate, BSP candidate Rajeev Srivastava and BJP’s Brijesh Pathak.
AIMIM has fielded 36 candidates in UP polls this time and two of them are contesting from Lucknow. Besides Siddiqui, the other candidate fielded by the party is Mohammad Tauheed Siddiqui from Lucknow (West) assembly seat. The rally in Rifah-e-Aam club, a place which has hosted great revolutionary poets like Faiz Ahmad Faiz in the days of Progressive Writers’ Movement, is one of the many rallies which Owaisi has addressed as a part of his intensive campaigning in the polls.
Polling will be held in Lucknow in 3rd Phase on 19th Feb.
Speaking to a gathering which registered above average attendance, Owaisi attacked Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi for befooling Muslims in the name of secularism.
“Every time when elections are near these leaders remind you of your secular duties. But you all know that they have no regards whatever for the plight of the community. You must rise for yourselves,” he said from the podium.
While referring to the question of secularism and identity politics he took jibes on Congress-SP alliance. “They brand me communal and responsible for BJP’s victory. I ask them who was responsible for the decline in employment rate of Muslims in the last sixty years and who is responsible for BJP winnings 72 seats in the last Lok Sabha election. Why these secular parties could not stop Modi,” he asked.
Owaisi also brandished a copy of Amnesty International report on Muzaffarnagar riots and again took names of rape victims. “Many newspapers criticized me for taking the name of Muzaffarnagar victims, I know who they work for. First they should answer to the claims of UP police that rates of rapes in Akhilesh Yadav government rose up to two hundred percent. What is the use of Rs. 16,000 cr UP police budget,” he asked.
He said that Akhilesh Yadav government was involved in scams related to Agra express highway and raised the issue of the lack of hospitals and elementary schools and accused Yadav clan of nepotism in the recruitment of youths in UP police.
“They say that Rs. 13,000 cr were spent to construct 302 km road but why did they spend Rs. 44 cr to construct one kilometer road when NHAI says that Rs. 11 cr is sufficient to construct 1 km road. Who was your contractor Akhilesh Yadav?” he asked.
“At least 1,54,000 posts are vacant in UP police department. But not even a single camp was set up for the training of Muslims and Dalit youths as promised. When it comes to elementary schools only 9% percent Muslim children study in primary schools of Uttar Pradesh.” Out of every 1300 Muslim children only two is able to attain higher education,” he informed the supporters in his speech.
Known for his Pakistan bashing, Owaisi paid homage to Indian Army martyrs died fighting terror from across the border and attacked Modi government on the issue of demonetization, terror and Triple Talaq by sarcastically calling the PM as ‘Badshah Salaamat’.
“More than 200 terrorists crossed our borders and you (Modi) said that demonetization will check cross border terror. And as far as Triple Talaq is concerned, what do they know of Hanafi jurisprudence in Islam,” he said to a cheering crowd.
“I want to see our sons and daughters as doctors and magistrates. This dream can only be fulfilled when you elect Mohammad Irfan Siddiqui. You should notice the SP-Congress alliance has fielded Maroof Khan to cause us damage so that BJP reaps the benefit and secure this seat. But we cannot allow that to happen. We must learn from Kanshiram’s successful struggle for the upliftment of Dalits,” he said to remind the gathering of his Muslim-Dalit unity strategy.
The rally also witnessed the attendance of Shaukat Ali (AIMIM UP state president) and Akhtarul Iman, Bihar president of AIMIM who reminded the gathering that AIMIM is not the party of Muslims alone as “the party donated Rs. 84 lakh as relief for victims of Uttarakhand floods which affected the lives of many Hindus there.”
AIMIM has long been winning around a dozen Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh. Last year, it made a debut in Maharashtra Assembly when two of its candidates won the election. In the ongoing Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Owaisi is making all efforts to open party’s account here also. Will he succeed? It will be known on 11 March when votes will be counted for all 403 Assembly seats including the 36 seats where he has fielded candidates.
