AIMIM set to enter panchayat poll arena in Telangana

Hyderabad: The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is preparing to field candidates in the panchayat elections in Telangana as part of its efforts to expand its footprint in rural areas of the state.
Though panchayat polls are not contested on party symbols, political parties give all their support and finances to support candidates as rural vote-bank is crucial to win the assembly elections.AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi asked the district leaders of the party to prepare a list of villages and wards where the party can field candidates and extend support to them.
Sources said AIMIM is keen to contest in the districts of Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Sanga Reddy, Vikarabad, Adilabad, Nirmal and Khammam, among others.
In the previous panchayat elections, AIMIM-supported candidates had won some of the sarpanch, ward member and MPP posts in the combined districts of Medak, Nizamabad, Adilabad and Rangareddy.
Political observers, however, said Owaisi-led party had been expanding its base in towns and municipal corporations in other states and not so much in the home state of Telangana. On many occasions, AIMIM had proposed to contest many assembly segments but confined itself to the Old City and its surroundings.
Some called it an arm-twisting strategy of AIMIM with ruling parties to compel them to maintain friendly relations with it. On its part, AIMIM has always maintained that, if it was not contesting too many constituencies in Telangana, it wans to ensure that Muslim vote is not divided and that the secular party, which has the potential to come to power, should get the maximum Muslim votes.