Kolkata: At a time when the Left-Congress alliance is all out to bring in Furfura Sharif cleric Abbas Siddiqui’s Indian Secular Front (ISF) in their alliance, meanwhile, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi is scheduled to come to West Bengal on February 25 and start their election campaign with a rally in the Metiabruz area.
Incidentally, Metiabruz comes under Diamond Harbour constituency which is considered to be a strong citadel of the ruling Trinamool Congress and Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is the Lok Sabha MP from that constituency.
According to sources, Owaisi who will lead the rally from 1 pm, post-Friday prayers, is also scheduled to meet Abbas to discuss their further course of action.
Notably, Abbas had demanded that he will join the Left-Congress alliance if he can field at least 70-80 candidates across the state but till the time of reporting Abbas stated that he didn’t get any clear hang from the Left and the Congress.
It is pertinent to mention that Congress has urged Abbas to leave his pact with Owaisi to join their alliance.
However, the ruling Trinamool Congress refused to comment about Owaisi’s presence in Bengal as according to them the Trinamool Congress will only get the minority votes.
It can be recalled that Owaisi after gaining few seats in the Bihar polls has decided to contest from West Bengal for the first time. In January, during his visit to the state he had made clear that all decisions for his party will be taken by the Furfura Sharif cleric.
According to several political observers, if Abbas joins the alliance with the Left and the Congress then his alliance with Owaisi featuring in West Bengal polls might cut several minority votes and there are chances that BJP might win.
“There are some traditional Muslim voters in the Trinamool Congress. With Abbas and Owaisi the Muslim votes will further get divided, making way for the saffron camp to mark their win,” mentioned the observers.