HYDERABAD: Social distancing is a point of worry for AIMIM as it began a campaign for the upcoming GHMC elections on Friday. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi kicked off the campaign by undertaking a ‘paidal daura’ (rally on foot) from Sultan Nagar in the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency. Foot rallies are typical of AIMIM, where leaders visit the lanes and bylanes of a locality from where an AIMIM representative will fight the polls.
In these rallies, a huge number of people — AIMIM workers and citizens alike — tag along if Asaduddin or Akbaruddin Owaisi is present. On Friday too, during the rally, a large number of people were present as Owaisi made his way through the lanes of Sultan Nagar.
Photos posted on AIMIM’s official Twitter account show that minimal social distancing norms were observed and some photographs show even Owaisi interacting with citizens without a mask.At the party’s headquarters at Darussalam, for the past three days, there was a huge crowd present inside the compound as candidates and those willing to contest the polls awaited for the decisions from senior leaders.
When Chandrayangutta MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi reached the headquarters on Thursday afternoon, he was mobbed (like he usually is) by scores of AIMIM supporters — none wearing masks. His security guards had to fend people off until Owaisi reached his chambers.
In the following days, the party will take up campaigning more intensively and will hold ‘jalsas’ (public rallies), and door-to-door campaigns. AIMIM workers are expecting a lower turnout to these jalsas, which usually stretch until late nights. They are banking on the social media pull of the Owaisi brothers and expecting citizens to tune into their live streams which are directly aired from their official accounts.