The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), opposing the Maharashtra government’s decision to allot public land to build a memorial to senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde in Aurangabad, said the state should instead build a hospital for women and children and name it after the late leader. The MIM said that the government had delayed allotment of land for the proposed hospital but was allotting land for memorials. “We are opposed to handing over of a prime plot of land in the heart of Aurangabad for a memorial. It would help the residents of the city more if the government builds a hospital and names it after Munde sahab,” MIM MLA from Aurangabad Imtiyaz Jaleel said. Jaleel said the state had shown undue haste in giving land for the memorial but had shown apathy in clearing projects that would help people. [related-post] The BJP led Maharashtra government, after taking over, had said it would build a memorial for Munde who passed away in June 2014. In May, the government decided to allot a 3100 square metre plot at Kranti Chowk in the heart of Aurangabad for the memorial. Earlier this week, the state set up a committee to conceptualize and formalise plans of the memorial. “The previous government had sanctioned Rs 45 crore for each district to build a women and child hospital. The hospital in the neighbouring district is almost complete. The state is still dilly dallying in allotting land for Aurangabad for such a vital project,” Jaleel said. Jaleel said that if the state did not relent to their demand, he would move court. The MIM, which has only two MLAs in the Maharashtra Assembly, has been trying to make its political presence felt in Maharashtra. In April it had emerged as the main political opposition to the BJP-Shiv Sena in Aurangabad Municipal Corporation by bagging 25 seats. The party fared miserably in the recent bye election in Bandra East. The party has been the most vocal critic of several decisions of the Maharashtra government. The MIM had opposed the government move to ask students of all schools to celebrate Yoga Day on June 21, and claimed that it infringed upon the right to religious freedom. The state government had later backtracked on its circular. The MIM has been trying to expand its political presence. On Friday, it held a public rally in Sillod in Auranagabad district where it asked five of its Dalit corporators to interact with local residents. The party plans to organise a function in Pune on Sunday to felicitate the 25 MIM leaders who won in the Auranagabad Municipal Corporation election.
