Written by Johnson TA | Bengaluru | Updated: August 19, 2015 3:14 am
Despite the Congress in Karnataka repeatedly denying MP Asaduddin Owaisi permission for conducting public rallies in Bengaluru on the grounds that he incites communal passions, Owaisi and his All Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen are likely to be a thorn in the Congress side in local city polls being held on August 22.
The MIM has announced that it will field candidates for 29 seats, mostly in Muslim pockets in the central, southern and northern parts of the 198-ward city.
The move by the MIM, which has been capitalising on Muslim votes in elections in many parts of the country over the last year or so, has caused serious concern among parties such as the Congress and JD(S) that often end up sharing minority votes in Bengaluru during assembly and parliamentary elections, thus handing victory to the BJP even in minority-dominated seats.
Senior Muslim leaders of the Congress in Bengaluru such as Roshan Baig and C M Ibrahim have been tasked with speaking to community leaders to ensure that people back the Congress in all constituencies. The move comes even as the MIM is projecting itself in newer ways.
The MIM has claimed that it has chosen constituencies to field candidates in Bengaluru on the basis of their backwardness. “Despite the BJP ruling BBMP for five years and the Congress ruling Karnataka, they have failed to solve basic problems like potholes, sanitation, streetlights and garbage in these wards,” the MIM announced in a social media campaign launched recently.
The MIM has indicated that it will be targeting Muslim and Dalit vote pockets of Bengaluru to gather at least a handful of seats in the city council. “If the Congress has done so much for Dalits and Muslims, why is that in the 2009 and 2014 elections not even a single Muslim was elected to Parliament from Karnataka?” Owaisi said at a press meet in the run-up to the BBMP elections.
The party is pointing at alleged double standards for development in the city, with areas populated by Muslims and Dalits being treated “differently”.
“Mangammanapalya ward, where a large number of poor Muslims and Dalits live, does not have even a single park or playground and has pothole-ridden roads. The MIM will remove all these double standards and work towards accountability and responsibility,” party leaders have said.
The MIM’s candidate list has 26 Muslims among 29 nominees. With its top leaders Asaduddin and Akbaruddin Owaisi being barred entry to Bengaluru for BBMP election meetings during the campaign phase, the MIM is depending on its individual candidates to deliver results. Asaduddin Owaisi, during a visit to the city last week, was not allowed to address a public rally but he offered prayers at a local mosque where a large crowd mobbed him and showed support.
“The Congress government stopped one Asaduddin Owaisi from holding a rally in Bengaluru but they failed to see that every supporter of the MIM is an Asaduddin Owaisi,” said Mohammed Asad, the MIM’s candidate for ward number 170 (Jayanagar East) in south Bengaluru.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh ruled out Owaisi’s MIM being a serious contender in the BBMP polls on account of its communal positioning. “The Congress has fought against communal forces since Independence. We will fight such divisive forces in Bengaluru and elsewhere,” he said during a visit to Bengaluru last week.
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