Days after All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi inducted mafia don Atique Ahmed (in absentia) and his wife Shaista Parveen into the party, Desh Gujarat reported that the Hyderabad MP may meet Ahmed in Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad.
The development comes ahead of Owaisi’s scheduled visit to the state of Gujarat on September 20. The AIMIM chief will also meet Muslim scholars at the Tagore Hall in Ahmedabad. Desh Gujarat also reported that Owaisi will meet party leaders in Gujarat and chalk out strategies for the upcoming Assembly elections in the State. In total, he will conduct two meetings and a press conference in Ahmedabad. AIMIM is planning to will contest 85-90 seats in the 2022 Vidhan Sabha elections.
Atique Ahmed, ex-MP from Praygraj, is accused of 103 murders and currently serving jail time in Ahmedabad. Earlier on September 7, his wife Shaista Parveen joined AIMIM in the presence of Asaduddin Owaisi. The Hyderabad MP had defended the decision by alleging that the BJP too had several lawmakers (37% MLAs in UP Assembly and 117 MPs in the Parliament) with serious criminal charges pending against them.
He claimed, “…If a politician is named Pragya, Ajay, Kuldeep, Sangeet, Suresh or Kapil, he or she will be a lokpriya neta. But those named Atiq and Mukhtar will be (called) bahubali.” While justifying his decision, Owaisi asserted, “If Atiq Ahmad delivered a provocative speech before the Muzaffarnagar riots or made a speech in Gorakhpur which led to trouble and he belonging to the community which is in power, then the cases against him would have been withdrawn. This is the reality. As per Indian law, he is yet to be convicted in any case.”
Reportedly, AIMIM will contest 100 seats in Uttar Pradesh after having forged an alliance with ‘Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha’ of Om Prakash Rajbhar. The alliance has several parties including Janta Kranti Paryu, Apna Dal (Krishna Patel), Rashtroday Party, Rashtriya Bhagidari Party, and SSBP.