AIMIM head Asaduddin Owaisi visited Lucknow and met Om Prakash Rajbhar, a former BJP ally
Lucknow:
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi spoke with a former BJP ally, Om Prakash Rajbhar of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, in Lucknow on Wednesday, in a meeting described as preparation for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, in the that AIMIM hopes to make some profit after going blank in the 2017 elections.
There is a renewed uproar around the Owai party after it won five seats in the recent Bihar Assembly elections. AIMIM also survived a virulent Hyderabad municipal election campaign, in which the BJP sent UP Prime Minister Yogi Adityanath and directly targeted Mr. Owaisi.
However, the party won 44 out of 150 seats, as it did in previous elections, and today Owaisi seized the opportunity to fight back on Yogi Adityanath’s pitch.
“The district that Chief Minister Adityanath went to (to address an election rally), the BJP lost all three seats … Where Amit Shah went, the BJP lost the seat. I’m not here to change my name, I’m here to win hearts, “Owaisi told a news conference.
Yogi Adityanath and Interior Minister Amit Shah, the two renowned figures who campaigned for the BJP in Hyderabad, made roving presentations that culminated in speeches addressed to Owaisi and the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS).
Yogi Adityanath addressed voters at Lal Darwaza in Hyderabad Old City (which is considered a stronghold of Owaisi and AIMIM), and stated that the BJP would change the name of the city to Bhagyanagar if it won the election.
“Some people were asking me if Hyderabad can be renamed to Bhagyanagar. I said, why not? I told them we changed the name from Faizabad to Ayodhya and Allahabad to Prayagraj after the BJP took power. Why can’t you change the name from Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar? ” he said as the fans cheered.
Fueled by its victory in an Assembly vote for Dubbaka’s seat last month, the BJP pointed to the Hyderabad elections as an opportunity to carve out a spot in the southern state.
The party did not win the election, but put up a strong fight, winning 48 seats to TRS’s 55. In previous polls, the BJP had won just four seats to TRS’s 99. The AIMIM won 44 each time.
Crucially, the BJP emerged with just 0.25 percent less vote share than the TRS.
Owaisi’s visit to Lucknow comes a day after Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that the AAP will contest the 2022 UP elections.
Asked if he would ally himself with the Bahujan Samaj Party of Mayawati for that election, Owaisi said it was unlikely at this time.
The BSP, AIMIM and the RLSP of Upendra Kushwaha formed an alliance for the election of Bihar. The biggest beneficiary of that deal was Owaisi, whose party eliminated Congress-RJD votes in multiple constituencies.
“In Bihar we were very successful. Mr. Rajbhar had a role there … we were part of the Great Democratic Secular Alliance there. Our success in Bihar has emboldened us and we look forward to furthering that success,” Owaisi said. in Lucknow.
AIMIM has also said that it will participate in the Bengal elections (to be held next year). The five seats the party won in Bihar were in the Muslim-dominated Seemanchal region of Bihar, which borders Bengal.
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