AIMIM takes U-turn? Asaduddin Owaisi's party may not contest Karnataka polls

Taking a U-turn, Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has reportedly decided not to contest the upcoming Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018. This comes days after the party had announced that it may contest in the Karnataka polls.

Karnataka polls are scheduled to be held in a single-phase on May 12 with counting on May 15. 

According to emerging reports, the party feels it's participation in Karnataka polls can have a negative effect on the other Congress' vote bank.

In January this year, the party had identified few constituencies in northern Karnataka, where they planned to contest the polls. 

The Hyderabad MP had earlier said that the country is fed up with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, and it's time to go for a third front, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi.

“..people of the country are fed up with BJP governance and Congress is not a viable option, neither it can become one," said Owaisi. 

Last week, the BJP announced its first list of 72 candidates for the Karnataka Assembly elections 2018. A meeting of the party's Central Election Committee was held in the evening to decide over the candidates. "The central election committee of the party has decided the first 72 names for the ensuing Karnataka legislative assembly elections," said the BJP's state unit in a statement.

Meanwhile, members of the BJP on Sunday staged protests in Bengaluru in poll-bound Karnataka against a statement of Congress state unit working president Dinesh Gundu Rao targeting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The BJP called for the protest in the Karnataka capital against Rao’s alleged “inciting remarks” on the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister. Rao had called Adityanath a “disgrace to Indian politics”