Bihar poll boost: AIMIM plans to contest in UP, West Bengal polls, says Owaisi
Hyderabad: Buoyed by the results of Bihar assembly elections, the AIMIM which bagged five seats is now looking to spread its wings to states such as Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Addressing reporters here on Tuesday night, MIM's president Asaduddin Owaisi said the party will fight for justice in the northern state's Seemanchal region.
Reacting to allegations that his party was dividing anti-BJP votes, Owaisi said he was running a political party that has a right to contest on its own.
"You mean we should not fight elections. You (Congress) went and sat in Shiv Sena's lap (in Maharashtra). If anyone asks why did you fight the elections... I will fight in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and will fight every election in the country... Do I need to ask anyone's permission to fight the polls," he said when asked whether the party would contest in any other state.
He, however, did not clarify whether the party would contest on its own or in alliance with other parties.
"AIMIM will fight in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Time only will tell with whom we will ally," Owaisi added.
Owaisi is often criticized by Congress and other parties as a "B-team" of BJP denting anti-saffron party's votes.
Owaisi-led AIMIM seems to have cut big time into the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan vote in the Seemanchal region in the third phase of the polls, according to poll pundits.
The Hyderabad MP-led party was in the fray in 20 seats in Bihar elections, a majority of which went to polls in the third phase on November 7, as part of the Grand Democratic Secular Front that has four other parties, including Upendra Kushwaha''s Rashtriya Lok Samta Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.
The party's victory in five seats has become inconsequential in terms of lending support in case of hung- assembly as NDA emerged as the clear winner.
When asked if his party will support Mahagathbandhan in case of a shortfall of majority, Owaisi did not give a direct answer saying, "Why should I speculate, when the final results are out then a decision will be taken."
Results of Bihar Assembly polls were not completely declared when the question was posed.
According to statistics provided by the Election Commission of India, AIMIM got 1.24 percent of over 4 crore votes polled.
The party unsuccessfully contested in Bihar Assembly polls in 2015 and secured less than 0.5 percent votes.
MIM also unsuccessfully contested in UP Assembly polls in 2017.
Besides Telangana and Bihar, MIM has two MLAs and one MP in Maharashtra.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
