With the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls scheduled to be conducted on December 1, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) workers and sitting corporators have been submitting their nominations. The party is confident of retaining its seats.
The party won 44 wards in the 2016 GHMC polls. Party workers on Tuesday unofficially said around 250 nomination forms filled by those hopeful of getting a ticket were submitted on Tuesday. Forms are being accepted till 12 noon on Wednesday by the party. “We were expecting a little more time. However, with the sudden announcement, and last day for filing nomination being Friday, things are moving faster,” said a party functionary.
Party sources said as per practice, there would soon be daily padayatras by the Owaisi brothers with soon-to-be-announced-candidates, followed by public meetings in the evenings. At a recent event, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi said public meetings would be organised across assembly segments where the party would ‘speak a lot’ about those who accused it of splitting votes.
A senior party functionary reiterated that the party would comfortably win seats in its strongholds, primarily comprising wards in Old City. He added that with an emaciated Congress and a ‘non-existent’ TDP, the party is likely to have a smooth sailing. He also dismissed claims that BJP, which won the recent Dubbak bypoll, would make inroads into AIMIM’s bastions. “BJP will create a lot of hype, but it will not meet with success. In any case, they cannot have a mayor. MIM will win from its areas. We do not see any issue,” he said. BJP in the last elections won Gowlipura, Ghansibazar and Begum Bazaar which are in Hyderabad Parliamentary constituency.
Despite the senior party leadership — Asaduddin Owaisi and Akbaruddin Owaisi — urging voters to increase the polling percentage, the party does not seem to be worried about this aspect. “It is for the State Election Commission to inspire confidence among the voters. It is not just the MIM, all parties should increase polling percentages,” a senior party functionary said.
