Former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, accused in the larger conspiracy case related to the 2020 Delhi riots, has joined Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM). Hussain, who is facing charges linked to the communal violence, will be contesting the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections from the Mustafabad constituency.
Announcing this move, AIMIM President Asaduddin Owasi in a post on X wrote: “MCD Councillor Tahir Hussain joined AIMIM and will be our candidate from Mustafabad Assembly Constituency in the upcoming Delhi Vidhan Sabha elections. His family members & supporters met with me today & joined the party.” This comes a day after AAP announced their second list of 20 candidates and has fielded Adil Ahmed Khan as its candidate from the same constituency. Mustafabad is muslim dominated constituency in north east Delhi. It is too early to say that AIMIM will dent the AAP vote bank in minority dominated area.
Owasi’s move has sparked intense criticism from the BJP. The move has been strongly criticized by the saffron party. Delhi BJP leader Kapil Mishra said, “He is not just an accused in the riots; but bombs, numerous petrol bombs, and stones were also found in his house. All these weapons were collected by Tahir Hussain to target Hindus in Delhi”.
He added, “IB’s young officer Ankit Sharma was taken to his house, brutally stabbed 400 times, and then his body was dumped in a drain—this heinous crime was also committed by him.” “By giving a ticket to such a murderer and rioter, Owaisi and so-called secular parties are challenging Delhi’s Hindus. Owaisi’s party is acting like the B team of the Aam Aadmi Party,” said Mishra.
Addressing a press conference, Mishra and Praveen Shankar Kapoor showcased a video purportedly exposing how the Delhi government, led by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), is allegedly aiding Rohingyas and Bangladeshis by providing them temporary shelters and other amenities. He claimed that Amanatullah Khan is distributing ?10,000 per person along with free electricity, water, and rations to illegal immigrants. Mishra accused Kejriwal’s party of creating an ecosystem to protect Rohingyas by facilitating the issuance of ration and voter cards.
Hussain was a councilor from Nehru Vihar and in the year 2020, AAP had expelled him from the party when his name surfaced in the Delhi riots. He has been lodged in jail since 2020 under UAPA and conspiracy to riot sections regarding north-east violence which left at least 53 people dead and around 700 injured. On December 5, the Delhi High Court quashed a First Information Report (FIR) against Tahir Hussain in a case related to the February 2020 violence.
