After the performance of Asaduddin Owaisi in Bihar Assembly elections, Owaisi has become a budding star politician of India. His party, All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen or AIMIM has lots of curiosity surrounding it. Political analysts have gone at length to describe AIMIM as the next largest party for Muslims in the country. With its roots in Hyderabad, the party is slowly making inroads in northern India through UP, MP, Bihar, and now Bengal. The announcement of Asaduddin’s Bengal entry was enough to send jitters in Mamata didi’s spine. It is not BJP but Asaduddin Owaisi that is shaking grounds for Mamata in Bengal. So much is the fear, that Mamata is accusing Owaisi of being a paid pawn of BJP. Why is this so? The minority voter base of BengalThe strength of Mamata is her Muslim voters. Numbered at around 24.7 million, they constitute almost 30% of the population in Bengal today. They dominate 60-80 seats in the 294 seat Assembly constituencies of Bengal. Mamata Bannerjee openly opposes every issue that is known to hurt Muslim sentiments. Mamata is always by the side of Muslims, be it over the issue of Rohingya Muslims, Bangladeshi refugees, or CAA. Allegations of minority appeasement never deter her. This created a lot of religious polarization in Bengal politics as was evident in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Bengal. The Hindu votes went to BJP and the Muslim votes to TMC. It was in 2019 itself, that Asaduddin Owaisi decided to enter Bengal politics. The entry of another Muslim appeasing party in Bengal is sure to divide Mamata’s votes. Her fears are not unfounded. An ironic series of events panned out immediately post the Bihar elections. Her greatest fear offered her a hand of friendship. AIMIM offered Mamata Bannerjee’s party, TMC, a pre-poll pact. He wanted to consolidate the Muslim voter base of both parties. This was hard to digest pill for Mamata Bannerjee. She rejected the offer thinking that this hardcore Muslim party would alienate Hindu voters away from her. She presents TMC as a secular party. Also, she did not want to present TMC as a weak party that needed a pre-poll alliance. Since then, TMC is trying to weaken the position of AIMIM in west Bengal. It fears that if not controlled at the right stage, AIMIM will work in favor of BJP. It will be nothing but a vote cutting party by driving Muslim voters away from TMC. AIMIM is not as strong as it appearsCongress still has a strong base in some Muslim dominated seats of West Bengal. With Malda and Murshidabad in Congress’ hands, AIMIM has more to compete with than just TMC. Moreover, the Bengali-speaking Muslim of WB is not the same as the Urdu-speaking Muslim of Hyderabad. Their issues, their needs are quite different. There are not just cultural differences, but also political differences. The middle-class Bengali Muslims maintain a secular attitude on public platforms. Without any strong local Muslim leaders, AIMIM will have to struggle in the alien territory. Also, the educated Muslims of Bengal know that AIMIM can split their votes. They have seen the 2019 elections where BJP drew an advantage over the Muslim votes being divided between Congress and TMC in Malda. They will likely not repeat the same mistake. AIMIM as a party in Bengal is not organically strong. There is no credible leader for AIMIM in Bengal yet. The state President Sheikh Anwar Hussain Pasha joined TMC last month. Along with him defected 20 other AIMIM leaders. Without any strong cadre and grass-root network, it is tough to win a state where even the villages can be divided along party lines. With Owaisi likely to visit Kolkata in January, a ray of hope for AIMIM in Bengal is still alive. The groundwork has begun. In the battle between TMC and BJP, this war over Muslim votes between AIMIM and TMC would be no less interesting. Also Read: Trinamool Congress has Become a Family Party: Amit Shah The post The New Bengal Innings of Asaduddin Owaisi appeared first on NC Airways. Via https://ncairways.co/asaduddin-owaisi/
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