In an exclusive interview with Aaj Tak, AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said that the BJP is trying to defend accused Ashish Misra in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case.
West Bengal polls: AIMIM announces list of seven candidates
By Yunus Y Lasania| Published: 6th April 2021 1:21 pm IST AIMIM supremo and Hyderabad Lok Sabha member of Parliament Asaduddin Owaisi. (file photo)
Hyderabad: The All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) will contest from seven assembly constituencies in the ongoing West Bengal elections. The party on Tuesday announced that it will be putting up candidates in the Itahar, Jalangi, Sagardighi, Bharatpur, Malatipur, Ratua and Asansol Uttar seats. Three days prior,
siasat.com reported on April 3 that the AIMIM would contest five to eight seats in the state.
In the run up to the West Bengal elections, the AIMIM hit more than one roadblock, after the (Hyderabad Lok Sabha member of Parliament) Asaduddin Owaisi-led party was first snubbed by Indian Secular Front’s Abbas Siddiqui, and later when its in-charges quit. Siddiqui, an influential cleric and head of the Furfura Sharif dargah in the eastern state,
Why the 30% Muslim vote share is crucial in Bengal, explains Robin Roy
Two leaders vouching for Muslim identity are in the assembly election frayâAIMIM boss and Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi and the Furfura Darbar Sharif preacher Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui
According to the 2011 Census, West Bengal had over 24.6 million Bengali Muslims, who formed 27.01 per cent of the population of the state. Bengali Muslims form the majority of the population in three districts Malda, Murshidabad and Uttar Dinajpur.
The Bengali Muslim population in the state (West Bengal) soon after the Partition in 1947 was around 12 per cent. After Partition, some Bengali Muslims from West Bengal emigrated to East Pakistan (present-day-Bangladesh). However, the Muslim population of several West Bengal districts did grow between the decade of 1941-1951, despite the migration of two-thirds of a million people, to erstwhile East Pakistan.
According to party sources, the first public meeting of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) will take place at the Metiabruz Pink square in the afternoon. Metiaburuz Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district comes under Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha seat, which is represented by Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, a nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.