Owaisi announces support to JD(S)

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) on Monday announced its support to the Janata Dal (Secular) and also said that it will not contest the Assembly elections.

The announcement was made by AIMIM party leader Asaduddin Owaisi, MP, in Hyderabad. He said: “In the current situation, it is beneficial to support the JD(S). Our intention is to ensure a non-Congress and non-BJP government in Karnataka. My party leaders and I will go campaigning in constituencies where the JD(S) leaders want me to go,” he said.

According to senior AIMIM sources in Hyderabad, the decision to support JD(S) was made to prevent division of votes in constituencies where there are sizeable minority voters. “If we contest, both Congress and JD(S) will also put up minority candidates, which will divide votes and help the BJP. We believe that our support to JD(S) will help prevent BJP’s victory,” the party leader said. Sources in both AIMIM and JD(S) believe that the dynamics of minority voting could change in 30 to 40 constituencies, especially in Hyderabad Karnataka region, with sizeable chunk of minority votes.

Mr. Owaisi or other party leaders have been prevented from speaking in public rallies in Maharashtra and Karnataka after AIMIM pulled out of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in 2012 and this has riled the party, said sources. “Congress has been working against us and AIMIM did not have an alternative other than JD(S),” sources said.

Meanwhile, JD(S) State president H.D. Kumaraswamy told reporters in Mysuru that Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao may have spoken to Mr. Owaisi. “He had promised to speak to Mr. Owaisi. A 2% swing in votes will go a long way for the party in reaching the 113-mark (simple majority) in the Assembly,” he said.