The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's victory in Mumbai and Auarangabad may have raised few eyebrows, but it is indicative of the kind of reaction the politics of hatred can evoke. The fact that a party based in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh comes, contests polls in Maharashtra and may win more seats than a so-called established party like Maharashtra Navnirmaan Sena (MNS), says a lot.

So what does the MIM, as it is being referred to now, stand for? MIM is based in Hyderabad and is led by the Owaisi brothers, who are notoriously famous for their vitriolic speeches. It is ironic that one of them, Asaduddin Owaisi even won the Sansad Ratna award for the best parliamentarian.

But it is even more ironic that MIM is winning in Aurangabad, which was part of the erstwhile Hyderabad princely state ruled by the Nizam. It is important that we know a bit of history before we go on to what led to the emergence of MIM in Maharashtra.

The princely state of Hyderabad extended to the Marathwada region of Maharashtra (Maharashtra itself was yet to be formed), and the majority of the Nizam's people in Marathwada were Hindus. But the Nizam ruled with an iron hand and used the Razakars, a para-military organisation, to quell any voice of dissent. The people feared the Razakars and pleaded with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Home Minister of newly independent India, to use police force against them. Patel acknowledged the demand and threatened police action. The Nizam conceded and the princely state of Hyderabad was merged with India. The people rejoiced like it was Diwali. The leader of the Razakars, Qasim Rizvi, was arrested and released only after he agreed to go to Pakistan.

Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, formed in 1927, had been a pro-Nizam party led by Rizvi until he was jailed. Before he left for Pakistan, Rizvi handed over the reins to Abdul Wahed Owaisi, who then took over and nurtured the party. Today, the party that was part of Razakar rule has found acceptance in the very region that had celebrated following their ouster.

No doubt, MIM got huge support from the sizeable Muslim population and also benefitted from the division of votes in other parties. But the fact that a voice as vitriolic as Owaisi gets so much support reveals how polarised the Muslim vote has been in Aurangabad. Clips of Owaisi's speeches had been doing the rounds on WhatsApp, and the Muslim youth who feel threatened by the hysteria surrounding Narendra Modi were attracted to them.

Despite the fallacy that Muslims vote for the Congress, the community has been consistently voting against the party they feel betrayed them when Mahatma Gandhi suddenly withdrew support to the Khilafat movement in the 1930s. Muslims have rarely offered single handed support to the Congress ever since, even though right wing parties say so to win over the Hindu vote bank. They voted for the Janata Dal in the 90s, and then the Samajwadi Party, and till date have voted tactically.

As long as their support went to left leaning parties, there was no cause for concern. But if MIM becomes the face of Maharashtra's Muslims, who were so far considered moderate, then we need to worry.