Indore: The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has made preparations to contest local body polls in 22 Madhya Pradesh districts and are scheduled to meet national chief Asaduddin Owaisi on June 9 for further guidance, said the party’s state unit working president Dr Naeem Ansari on Friday.
Speaking to PTI, Ansari said the party had even completed a detailed poll survey in 10 of the 22 districts, adding that the meeting with Owaisi would take place in Hyderabad in Telangana.
“We have made preparations for contesting local body elections in 22 districts of the state and have also conducted a detailed survey on its poll equations in 10 of these districts. If he (Owaisi) gives permission, then the party will issue its detailed plans on contesting urban body elections in the state,” Ansari said.
He said the AIMIM was planning to put up candidates in Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Khargone, Ratlam, Shajapur and some other districts.
“In Burhanpur, the party will field candidates not just for corporator seats but also for post of mayor. The people of MP are not happy with the Congress and the BJP and are keenly looking for a third alternative. We will be that third alternative in the state,” Ansari claimed.
He said the AIMIM was preparing to enter the political space in MP since 2015 and claimed it now had a membership base of over two lakh in the state.
Meanwhile, queried on the AIMIM’s move, Madhya Pradesh Congress media department chairperson KK Mishra said the Owaisi-led party was the B-Team of the BJP and that Muslims of MP were intelligent and would not “become puppets in the hands of AIMIM”.
As per the 2011 census, Muslims constitute 47.76 lakh, or 6.57 per cent, of the state population of 7.27 crore.
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