UP polls: Don-turned-politician Ateeq Ahmad's wife Shaista Parveen likely to join AIMIM

In a key development ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, mafia don-turned-politician Ateeq Ahmad's wife Shaista Parveen is likely to join AIMIM on Tuesday. The induction will mostly take place in the presence of AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, sources told Republic TV. Ahmad served as an MLA from the Allahabad West constituency 5 times in a row from 1989 to 2004.

He was also elected to the Lok Sabha in the 2004 General Election on a Samajwadi Party ticket. Facing a huge number of criminal cases pertaining to offences such as murder, abduction, extortion and fraud, he is currently lodged in a Gujarat jail. AIMIM has openly expressed its desire to contest at least 100 seats in the 2022 UP election. 

AIMIM's gradual expansion

With 1 MP and 7 MLAs in Telangana, AIMIM is considered a formidable force in Hyderabad. In recent years, however, the party has spread its wings to different parts of the country including Maharashtra and Bihar. For instance, AIMIM bagged one Lok Sabha seat and two Assembly seats in Maharashtra in 2019. Moreover, the Asaduddin Owaisi-led party's candidates won from the Sahebganj, Chhatarpur, Narpatganj, Pranpur, Barari, and Raniganj constituency in the 2020 Bihar Assembly polls. 

In the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation election, AIMIM had the best strike rate among all other parties by winning 44 out of the 51 wards in which it fielded candidates. The party also contested the local bodies' election in Gujarat in an alliance with Chhotubhai Vasava-led Bharatiya Tribal Party winning 17 seats in the Municipalities of Modasa, Godhra and Bharuch. On the other hand, the Owaisi-led party failed to win a single seat in West Bengal as well as Tamil Nadu. 

For the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, AIMIM has joined the 'Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha' which is being led by Om Prakash Rajbhar. It comprises 9 other parties including the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party, the Apna Dal faction of Krishna Patel, Rashtroday Party, Rashtriya Bhagidari Party and Janta Kranti Party. A Minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led Cabinet until 2019, Rajbhar has been a fierce critic of the state government and the Centre after parting ways with the saffron party.

Recently, there has been friction between AIMIM and SBSP with the latter keeping the door open for an alliance with BJP. Disapproving this stance, UP AIMIM president Shaukat Ali stressed, "AIMIM is with Rajbhar to stop BJP. If Rajbhar decides that the (Bhagidari Sankalp) Morcha will go with BJP, AIMIM's stance is that it will always remain on the battlefield to stop BJP. We will stop BJP. We will never ally with BJP".