Asaduddin Owaisi on Lok Sabha Elections: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi has made a big announcement before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Asaduddin Owaisi has announced that his party will contest Lok Sabha elections on 4 seats in Maharashtra. He announced this on Sunday (February 19, 2024) in Akola of the state. During this time he was addressing a huge public meeting.
In this public meeting, Owaisi fiercely targeted not only BJP but also Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction). He raised questions on the alliance of Congress and Shiv Sena. Owaisi also condemned Uddhav Thackeray’s statement in which he expressed happiness over the demolition of Babri Masjid.
Preparations to field candidates on these seats
After Owaisi’s announcement, there is talk that AIMIM may field its candidates on Dhule, Nanded, Bhiwandi and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar seats of Maharashtra. Out of this, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar seat (earlier Aurangabad) is currently held by AIMIM. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the party’s Imtiaz Jaleel had won this seat. Even before this, AIMIM has indicated that the party may field its candidates on four or five seats in Maharashtra in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. On February 5, 2024, Dr. Abdul Ghaffar Qadri, working president of AIMIM’s Maharashtra unit, had said that his party can win five seats in Maharashtra.
That’s why everyone’s focus is on Maharashtra
Actually, there are 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. In terms of seats, the number here is the highest after 80 seats in UP. Talking about the Lok Sabha elections held in 2019, the BJP and Shiv Sena alliance had won the maximum number of seats. Then both of them had won 41 seats. Out of these, BJP had won on 23 seats, while Shiv Sena had won on 18 seats. However later both the parties separated. The UPA alliance had won only 2 seats in 2019. One seat went to AIMIM and one seat to an independent.
Muslim voters play decisive role in many seats
Muslim vote bank is very important in the politics of Maharashtra. There are many such seats where Muslim voters directly play a decisive role in victory or defeat. Muslim population in Maharashtra is 11.24 crore. North Konkanak, Khandesh, Marathwada, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Western Vidarbha are some of the areas where Muslim votes can change the outcome. Till now these voters have been going with Congress and NCP, but the presence of AIMIM can change the game.