The leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) party, Asaduddin Owaisi, held his first meeting in Murshidabad on Monday (April 13) following his party’s split with Humayun Kabir’s Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) shortly before the Assembly polls. Mr. Owaisi criticised both Mr. Kabir and Mamata Banerjee for failing to address the injustices faced by the Muslims of Bengal.

During a public meeting at Raghunathganj in Murshidabad district on Monday afternoon, the AIMIM party chief said that grave injustices have been inflicted upon the Muslims of West Bengal. 

“People tell you to support secularism, please support that... Today she (Mamata Banerjee) says if AIMIM comes to power, it will benefit the BJP. I would like to inform the Trinamool Congress and Mamata Banerjee that 26 years ago, in 1998 they had an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party and their MP was elected. Did I tell them to do that?” Mr. Owaisi said from the stage as supporters cheered on. 

This follows a volley of accusations by the TMC chairperson, Ms. Banerjee, who said the BJP had introduced outside parties to split votes. 

Muslim vote bank

He urged the people of Murshidabad to vote for the AIMIM for an alternative form of government, stating that for 70 years, West Bengal had supported the Congress, TMC, and BJP but received nothing in return. “None of them paid attention to youth employment or established industry in Murshidabad,” Mr. Owaisi said. 

He accused the TMC of using the Muslims of Bengal as a vote bank and failing to uplift the community. The AIMIM chief said that Mamata “hates” Murshidabad. He promised that he would bring Kolkata to a standstill to secure justice for Murshidabad if he is voted to power.

On the issue of the video of Mr. Kabir, Mr. Owaisi said that he or his party would not stand with anyone selling out the Muslims of Bengal and that is why he ended the alliance within a day of the video being published. 

This assumes significance given Murshidabad’s minority population, Muslim voters form a decisive electoral bloc across several constituencies. Any realignment or split in parties seeking to consolidate this vote may impact poll results in the district. 

Video of ‘turncoat’

The AIMIM ended its short-lived alliance with AJUP after a video of Mr. Kabir went viral, in which he was allegedly seen striking a ₹1000 cr. deal with the BJP to “mislead the Muslims of Bengal”. The video was released by the TMC. However, the authenticity of the video has not been individually verified by The Hindu. 

The AIMIM announced that they will go solo in the Bengal elections and severed all ties with AJUP and said that they do not associate with those who would cast a shadow on the integrity of Muslims.

The AIMIM has fielded 12 candidates from West Bengal, including Imran Solanki from Raghunathganj, Rejaul Karim in Sujapur, Asadul Sk in Suti, and others.

Murshidabad goes to the polls on April 23.