After a good show at last year's Hyderabad civic polls, the Owaisi brothers are now eyeing Mumbai with a lion's share in BMC's budget. Do they stand a chance? They seem to think so
Asaduddin Owaisi
Asaduddin Owaisi
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Our only agenda is development. Both, the Samajwadi Party and Congress used the city's Muslim population merely as a vote bank," says Waris Pathan of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) when we meet him at his office in Fort on December 27. Pathan, who got elected to the state assembly seat from Byculla during the 2014 assembly election, is currently spearheading the Hyderabad-based party's campaign for the BMC elections slated to be held in the last week of February.
The party, in the voice of Pathan, hopes to capture the imagination of a population that seems disillusioned with what the several parties that have been dominating Mumbai politics thus far seem to be offering. "We have conducted several development projects in Hyderabad, as well as in Maharastra. Dalits and Muslims were always neglected under the Sena-BJP rule."
Controversial take-off
Founded in 1926 and headquartered in Hyderabad, AIMIM became the subject of national news when in 2000, one of its leaders, Akbaruddin Owaisi, was charged with making inflammatory and provocative speeches in the Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh on December 22. After the controversial speech, he was charged with sedition under section 124 A of the Indian Penal Code.
AIMIM party worker Matin Nayak (fifth from left) speaks to residents of Byculla
However, it didn't mark a dent in the party's popularity. In 2014, the party contested from 35 MLA and 6 MP seats. Of these, they won seven assembly and one MP seats. In 2016, the party won 42 seats in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. The party is headed by Akbaruddin, an MLA from Telangana, and his brother Asaduddin Owaisi. In the last elections, it has also tried to expand its base in Maharashtra.
In 2016, AIMIM fielded a total of 60 candidates in various municipal council elections across the state. Of these, it managed to win 40 seats. On January 1, Asaduddin launched the party's campaign for the BMC elections where it will contest 60 seats. It hopes to corner the Muslim vote, which accounts for 21 per cent of the city's population.
Residents of Byculla are plagued by problems of illegal construction, poor hygiene, garbage dumping and water-logging. Pics/Sameer Markande
The Mumbai campaign
Last Sunday, the party's campaign launch was a well-attended public meeting on a narrow road in Nagpada. With garbage strewn on the side, star campaigner Asaduddin set the tone with his promise to get R7,000 crore for Muslims in the BMC budget to improve facilities and amenities. "There are more than one lakh students in civic-run Urdu schools in the city, but the conditions there are horrible as they don't have clean drinking water or toilets for students. Many schools have shut down, which we will start again if we come to power," he had said.
The choice of area isn't random. Political observers and foot soldiers within the party see great opportunity in areas like Madanpura, Bhendi Bazaar, Bandra east and west, Govandi, Malvani which not only have a sizeable Muslim population — in Madanpura and Govandi the population is over 80 per cent — but also complain of neglect from mainstream politicians. Party leaders are confident of winning at least 20 seats in the civic elections.
Waris Pathan
Asif Khan, a 45-year-old resident of Sakli Street in Byculla, seemed to echo the sentiment. "The parties we have been voting for during the last few elections, have done nothing to address our problems. Our community has always only been used as a votebank. AIMIM seems to understand our issues and doesn't shy away from talking about them," he says. Geeta Gawli from Akhil Bhartiya Sena is the sitting corporator from Khan's area.
The voters here are not just unhappy with the way the Congress and Samajwadi Party have represented them, most stand in unison when they say that they will not vote for Shiv Sena or BJP. "We want a party, which is secular and so Shiv Sena and BJP don't fit the bill. These two parties have been ruling the BMC for the last 20 years and our issues have always been ignored. And even the other so-called secular parties are all the same. MIM looks promising as of now," says Mohammad Arif Fayaji, (37) who is an engineer and resident of Govandi.
Pathan says, "In 2014, we made history in Maharashtra politics by winning two seats. Now, we will do the same thing in the BMC election. We will change the face of Mumbai. In the last two years, I have done my best to address the problems of my constituency without a single corporator. Corporators from other parties in these areas are doing nothing."
The Opposition
The Samajwadi Party candidate from Madanpura electoral seat Rais Shaikh dismisses AIMIM's claims of hurting his votebank. "They have a lot of answering to do. All the promises they made before the assembly elections haven't been realised. They should first look at themselves before pointing fingers at us," he adds. He also claims that MIM has BJP's tacit support, which hopes that it polarises the Muslim votes in the city, thus reducing the wins Congress or SP can expect. While that is just a theory, there are a few who have bought into AIMIM's party-for-Muslims bugle call. Jiuaddin Shaikh (50), supervisor at the Mazgaon Docks, who lives on Sakli Street in Byculla, feels there's little chance of AIMIM winning. "Pathan is doing work for only the elite and builders. Common people have to steal deal with garbage, sewerage and lack of drinking water. In the last two years, he hasn't once come to meet us in our area."
Problems AIMIM will need to address
Areas like Madanpura, Byculla, Dockyard Road and Shivaji Nagar need urgent attention. Residents still, get dirty water supply and water logging. Illegal construction, poor hygiene and cleanliness are common. Shivaji Nagar in Govandi still faces water shortage and residents daily get water from BMC tankers, which costs anywhere between R2,000 and R7,000 per tank. In Byculla and Dockyard Road, water-logging and illegal constructions continue to affect residents.
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