All India Majlis Ittehadul Musalmeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi will be on a two-day visit to lucknow from Saturday.
The MP from Hyderabad will reach on Saturday and will address a meeting of party cadre at KGMU Scientific Convention Centre in the afternoon. later, Owaisi will also address a meeting of Muslim intellectuals and religious leaders on Saturday evening. He is also scheduled to address a public meeting in Kanpur on Sunday. The party has applied for a permission to catrry outthe programme but is yet to get the nod from the Kanpur district administration.
State MIM chief Shaukat Ali said the party has sought permission from Kanpur district administration for the meeting. Owaisi was slated to reach lucknow on Friday for a three-day trip to UP but could not do so due to an all-party meet on Kashmir in New Delhi held on Friday.
“During his two-day visit to UP, Owaisi will take stock of the preparations for the 2017 polls and the progress made in expanding the party base in each district. The MIM is negotiating with various parties for alliance and seat adjustments for the elections,” said Ali.
The state MIM chief said that during Owaisi’ recent visit to Balrampur, Siddarthnagar and Jaunpur, he received huge support especially from the youth and addressed several whistle stop meetings on the highway.
Ali said that in near future, Owaisi will focus on Muslim dominated Assembly segments in west and east UP. He said that the process of selection of candidates for the 2017 polls is in advanced stage.
``The process of screening candidates for the 2017 polls is almost over. Against our expectations, people in large numbers from all sections of society particularly Muslims, Dalits and OBCs are not only joining the party but keen to contest the polls as MIM candidates,’’ claimed Ali.
The AIMIM is eyeing the 2017 Assembly polls banking on Muslim and Dalit voters and Asaduddin Owaisi is planning a mass contact programme in the state after Bakrid in the third week of September.
Attacking the ruling SP, Ali said, “The SP is so scared of the MIM that it has denied permission to us for holding a rallies in Azamgarh, Agra, lucknow, Allahabad and several other districts. The SP government has failed to deliver to Muslims and honour promises it had made to the community ahead of the 2012 Assembly polls and 2014 lok Sabha polls.”