Maharashtra Election 2024: Both the camps have put in all their strength to win the Maharashtra Assembly elections. The election campaign in the state has reached its peak before the voting to be held on November 20. This time a tough contest is being considered between the ruling Mahayuti and Mahavikas Aghadi Alliance (MVA).
Meanwhile, everyone’s eyes are also on the small parties contesting elections in the state. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has fielded his candidates on 16 assembly seats in the state. Owaisi, who had won two seats in the last assembly elections, has nurtured the dream of becoming a kingmaker this time. Owaisi is hopeful that his party will perform well in the assembly elections this time. Experts say that amidst tough competition, Owaisi can spoil the game of MVA candidates on many seats.
This time Owaisi’s party is fighting on less seats.
However, this time Owaisi’s party is contesting on fewer seats than the last two elections. In 2014, Owaisi had contested elections on 22 seats, but in 2019 he had fielded his candidates on double the number of seats. In 2019, 44 candidates of Owaisi’s party had contested the election arena. It is noteworthy that in both the 2014 and 2019 assembly elections, Owaisi’s party had won two seats each.
This time the party has fielded its candidates on fewer seats than in the last two elections. This time the party has fielded 16 candidates, of which 12 are Muslim and four are Dalit candidates. Owaisi is confident that apart from the Muslim community, he will also get the support of people belonging to Dalit and OBC category.
Have fielded your candidates on these seats
It is also important to know on which assembly seats in Maharashtra Owaisi has fielded candidates. This time from AIMIM, Aurangabad Central, Aurangabad East, Mumbra-Kalwa (Thane), Malegaon Central, Dhule, Solapur, Nanded South, Karanja, Nagpur North, Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar, Bhiwandi West, Byculla, Kurla, Versova (Mumbai), Candidates have been fielded on Murtijapur (Akola) and Miraj (Sangli) seats. In 2019, the party had won Malegaon Central and Dhule assembly seats.
Owaisi can spoil the game of MVA
If we look at the 2019 assembly elections, Owaisi had spoiled the game of Congress and NCP on about a dozen seats. In such a situation, everyone’s eyes are on whose game Owaisi will spoil in this time’s assembly elections. This time too, Owaisi has fielded more candidates on those seats which are considered to be the areas under the influence of Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena’s Uddhav faction included in the Mahavikas Aghadi alliance.
On these seats, the three parties are in direct competition with the grand alliance parties BJP, Shiv Sena’s Shinde faction and NCP’s Ajit Pawar faction. Due to Owaisi fielding candidates, lines of worry are visible on the faces of the leaders of Mahavikas Aghadi alliance because they are afraid of Owaisi causing loss of Muslim votes.
Politics heated up due to Ulema Board’s letter
Meanwhile, the politics of the state has heated up due to the letter written by the Ulema Board. The Ulema Board has said that it will support the MVA, but along with it, 17 conditions have also been imposed. The Ulema Board says that in case of victory, the MVA should fulfill these conditions. After the letter issued by the Ulema Board, Owaisi has started fearing a breach in the Muslim vote bank.
This is the reason why Owaisi has fielded his brother Akbaruddin Owaisi, who gives sharp speeches, in the political battle of Maharashtra. Akbaruddin has been known to give sharp speeches and many times in the past his speeches have created controversies.
Political experts say that by fielding Akbaruddin, Owaisi has prepared a plan to prevent division in the Muslim vote bank. He himself is busy in making a scathing attack on veteran BJP leader and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra. He believes that this will further strengthen his Muslim vote bank.