Uttar Pradesh: Election fever has slowly set in Uttar Pradesh, with All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) feeling the heat after reports that one of its most prominent faces in the northern state is set to join the Congress.
AIMIM national spokesperson Syed Asim Waqar may join the Grand Old Party on Wednesday, September 2. The decision comes after Waqar was seemingly unhappy with party decisions. Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi allegedly played a key role, NDTV reported.
Waqar has been associated with AIMIM for nearly a decade. Earlier, he served 20 years with the Samajwadi Party (SP). Interestingly, both SP and the Congress are part of the INDIA bloc alliance.
So far, the leader has neither denied nor confirmed the reports.
Political experts believe this could significantly impact Owaisi’s ambition to cement its place in Uttar Pradesh. If true, Waqar’s exit could bring a crucial blow to the party.
The 403-seat Assembly polls are scheduled next year.
Asaduddin Owaisi had expressed confidence of winning seats in UP elections. “Our party has not yet decided how many seats we will contest. We will definitely contest the elections, and if we perform better than before, it will soon become clear which seats we will contest, where, and what the number will be. Secondly, the party’s organisation has become much stronger than before. An understanding has developed among the public that these false accusations against the AIMIM party, and the repeated propagation of such allegations, create an illusion that they (the NDA) are coming to power,” he was quoted by IANS last month.
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