Who’s afraid of Owaisi? Congress, Lalu, Mulayam, Mamata …
For the first time since the Muslim League migrated to Pakistan, a political party with undiluted Muslim credentials is making a credible bid for support on an allIndia basis. ....... Its ambitions are pan-Indian. It is a gathering (majlis) of Muslims on the platform of unity (ittehad). Its leader, Asaduddin Owaisi, an MP , refuses to be embarrassed by his focus, or faith, or his route map in the competitive jungle of democratic aspiration. ...... Aurangabad’s just-concluded municipal elections. The MIM won 26 of 54 seats it contested in the 113-member body to become the third largest party after BJP and Shiv Sena. Congress slipped from 19 seats to 11; NCP from 11 to two. In the recent assembly bypoll in Mumbai, which Congress heavyweight Narayan Rane lost, MIM got most of the Muslim votes. Something is happening. ....... There has been no Muslim leader of Indian Muslims since Maulana Azad, and he was a spent force by 1947. ........ There were only 11, 19 and 20 Muslim MPs in the first three Lok Sabhas, or in the decade when Congress under Nehru had a virtual monopoly and could get, as was often said, a lamppost elected. This was between 2 to 4% representation for 14% of India. ...... In Bengal, Muslims have around 30% of the vote. Do they get 30% of MPs even under the Left and Trinamool Congress? Try another joke. ....
The present Lok Sabha has only 22 Muslim members.
...... The young are tired of clichés. They want education. Their habitat and skills are largely urban rather than rural. They want jobs. They are starved for employment. ..... Five MIM councillors in Aurangabad are Dalit. The MIM has shown the capacity not only to pull voters in its direction but also to transfer votes to its non-Muslim candidates. ..... The MIM seems to have acquired some critical mass in Maharashtra but we will have to see whether its leader, Owaisi, has that willpower to carry his momentum into the Hindi heartland, and Bengal, which is where his future will be shaped.
