Alarm bells in INDIA as AIMIM plans to expand Lok Sabha poll footprint: UP to Bihar, Mumbai to Marathwada

With the JD(U) and the RLD having already walked out of its camp to join the ruling BJP-led NDA in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh respectively, the Opposition INDIA bloc is staring at another challenge: the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM, which is likely to contest multiple seats in these two crucial Hindi heartland states in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Despite not being an INDIA constituent, the AIMIM is likely to draw minority voters, who form a critical support base for the alliance.

Sources said the AIMIM is planning to contest on as many as 20 seats in UP and about seven seats in Bihar. In the 2019 polls, the party had contested only one seat from the heartland, in Bihar.

The AIMIM will also enter the fray in Maharashtra — where it could foray into Mumbai and Marathwada — as well as Telangana where besides its home turf Hyderabad, it may also contest from Secunderabad. The party, however, is unlikely to contest in the TMC-ruled West Bengal, where it had fielded candidates in the 2021 Assembly polls.

“We will fight in Hyderabad (Telangana), Aurangabad (Maharashtra) and Kishanganj (Bihar) for sure. Our Bihar unit wants to fight on more seats. In UP too, there are similar demands. In Maharashtra, there is a call to fight from Mumbai and Marathwada. We will soon decide how many seats we are going to fight,” Owaisi told The Indian Express.

The AIMIM currently has two seats in the Lok Sabha, represented by Owaisi (Hyderabad) and Imtiaz Jaleel (Aurangabad). In 2019, Akhtar-ul-Iman, the AIMIM candidate from Kishanganj, had polled almost 3 lakh votes, coming third behind the Congress and the JD(U) candidates. Kishanganj was the only seat in Bihar out of 40 that the Congress-RJD alliance had won in 2019. The AIMIM will again field