Owaisi to launch AIMIM’s 2022 UP poll campaign from Ayodhya, seers upset

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi will launch his party’s campaign for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections from Ayodhya district by addressing a ‘vanchit-shoshit samaj’ (deprived and victimized communities) conference on Tuesday, September 7.

The conference, scheduled at 3 pm at Rudauli tehsil about 57 km from Ayodhya city, has already provoked the seer community in the city by referring to Ayodhya district as Faizabad in posters circulated on social media. The seers have protested and sought a ban on AIMIM rally, accusing Owaisi of hurting the sentiments of the Hindu community. Faizabad district was renamed Ayodhya in November 2018.

The priest of Hanuman Garhi temple at Ayodhya, Mahanth Raju Das, said the seers will not allow Owaisi to visit Ayodhya.

AIMIM state unit president Shaukat Ali claimed that the members of the saffron brigade and rival political parties were panicking due to AIMIM’s increasing support base among all communities. Along with Muslims, Dalits, backwards and upper caste Hindus have also been invited to the conference, he said.

“Not only Muslims but other communities, too, have been harassed and exploited by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the centre and in Uttar Pradesh. The AIMIM has decided to fight for the rights of the people suppressed by the BJP government by organising a series of ‘vanchit-shoshit samaj’ conferences across Uttar Pradesh,” he said.

On September 7, the AIMIM chief will address one such conference in Rudauli area of Ayodhya district. The next day he will address a conference in Sultanpur, and in Barabanki on September 9.

Shaukat Ali said the AIMIM was not only fighting for the rights of the Muslims, but of all the communities allegedly victimised under the BJP government.

He claimed that Muslims, Dalits, backwards and even upper caste people in UP were looking for an alternative to the BJP, the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress since these parties had used them as vote banks. He added that the AIMIM will work for the welfare of all communities if it wins the UP polls.

The AIMIM has announced to field candidates on 100 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh. It has also joined an alliance of smaller political parties to form Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha, which includes Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) led by Om Prakash Rajbhar, Jan Adhikar Party led by Babu Singh Kushwaha, Rashtriya Uday Party led by Babu Rampal, Rashtriya Upekshit Samaj Party led by Premchanda Prajapati and Janata Kranti Party led by Anil Singh Chauhan.

The Morcha has invited the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bhim Army to join the pre-poll alliance.

Earlier in July, Owaisi’s visit to Bahraich to pay obeisance to medieval Ghaznavid general Ghazi Salar Masud alias Ghazi Miya had triggered a war of words between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and leaders of Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha constituents.