Gandhinagar:Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) which has joined hands with the Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP) in Gujarat to contest the local body polls, launched its unit in the state on Saturday.
AIMIM has appointed former Congress MLA from Jamalpur, Sabir Kabliwala as its state chief.
The local body elections in the state are slated for next month.
Owaisi had recently sent his party leaders to Bharuch to meet BTP MLA Chhotu Vasava and in Ahmedabad to meet Kabliwala.
Earlier, the AIMIM had announced it will contest the upcoming elections to municipal corporations, municipalities and taluka as well as district panchayats.
"Allying with the BTP leader Vasava, we will be contesting the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) elections and also the Bharuch municipality elections. Over the years Gujarat has seen that Congress has neither acquired power nor it has come out as a strong opposition against the BJP.
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"We will be proving ourselves as the best alternative against the BJP and our fight with the saffron party will be a direct one. In the coming days we will also be reaching out to other parts of the state and establish our base in the state. The party welcomes disgruntled leaders from BJP and Congress," said Hamid Bhatti, General Secretary, AIMIM, Gujarat.
"The BJP's tactics are to divert the public attention from real issues and engross them in petty communal issues. Those who don't agree with the BJP when they chose Congress they were disappointed as the same Congressmen, afterwards went and sat in the BJP's lap. There were many people who were frustrated with both the parties and expressed that AIMIM should have its presence in Gujarat and come out as a better alternative to the BJP in the state," added Bhatti.
"Our party will be contesting in at least 15 wards of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, while for the Bharuch municipality elections it will be on a seat-sharing basis with the BTP. Also today, we have launched the membership drive and after the elections we will be forming the structure of the party in the state," said Kabliwala.
Taking to Twitter, Owaisi said: "Happy to announce that former MLA Sabirbhai Kabuliwala has been appointed as AIMIM Gujarat State President. I wish him all the best & I am confident that AIMIM will emerge as a credible political alternative for the people of Gujarat."
IANS Report
