Asaduddin Owaisi

The Hyderabad-based All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has decided not to contest next month’s assembly elections in Delhi.

Led by the charismatic and controversial Hyderabad MP, Asaduddin Owaisi, the party is on a roll after having surprised political pundits by winning two seats in the recent Maharashtra Assembly elections.

In a series of interviews to television channels and mainstream newspapers, Owaisi had vowed to contest Delhi elections. There were even credible reports in mainstream newspapers of high-profile Muslim leaders from Delhi, such as sitting MLA Shoaib Iqbal of the Janata Dal (United), joining the MIM.

On Sunday, however, Owaisi confirmed that his party has decided against contesting in Delhi. “We want to establish and strengthen our party at the grassroots level in Delhi,” he told Arab News via Twitter. According to Owaisi, the MIM is receiving “extremely good response” in Uttar Pradesh (UP) which goes to elections sometime next year.

Ever since its runaway victory in Maharashtra, the MIM has received overwhelming requests from Muslims and Dalits and other underprivileged sections to establish the party in north India, particularly UP.

Owaisi’s decision not to contest Delhi elections will come as a welcome relief for those parties that are taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sonia Gandhi’s Congress Party will be particularly delighted because the MIM had sliced away the party’s vote share in Maharashtra.

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