TIRUCHY: DMK has extended an invitation to AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi for a meeting in Chennai in January first week.
Sources said this move of DMK has disappointed the functionaries of other Islamic parties in the state.
DMK’s minorities welfare wing secretary Dr. D Masthan along with AIMIM’s state president Vakkil Ahamed went to Hyderabad on Friday to invite Owaisi for the meeting in Chennai.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Vakkil Ahamed confirmed the information about the invitation.
Owaisi was strongly criticized and blamed for the defeat of RJD in the Bihar elections.
However, The DMK in a late-night statement said it had only invited its alliance partners. No other parties had been invited, the DMK said
Many of the Muslim people in Tamil Nadu also came down heavily on Owaisi when the Bihar election results were being declared and charged him for the split in the opposition votes that paved way for the BJP alliance emerging victorious.
The criticism was obvious as the social media platforms were flooded with posts in Tamil against Owaisi the next few days after the Bihar election results. Many such posts alleged Owaisi as the B team for the BJP.
On the other hand, there were some voices too in support of Owaisi.
In this situation, the functionaries of the other Muslim parties have been seeing the act of the DMK to rope in Owaisi into Tamil Nadu's political space as unwanted.
As the news about the invitation spread on social media platforms, it has caused abuzz among the Muslim community widely.
Many opine that Owaisi’s presence in the DMK’s alliance will not be of any use in the upcoming elections as the AIMIM does not have any base here.
Noor Muhammed, a resident of Tiruchy, said: “Owaisi definitely will not help in getting more votes from the Muslim community to the DMK alliance. But his introduction of Tamil Nadu politics may bring down the morale of the cadre of other Islamic parties in the state. This move of the DMK is uncalled for.”
Sources said that the DMK’s invite to Owaisi has already upset many of the grass-root level workers of its coalition parties like IUML and Manithaneya Makkal Katchi.