Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) will contest the upcoming urban local body elections in Madhya Pradesh.

For its foray in the state, the party will strategise in order to keep the Muslim-dominated areas of MP under its political influence.

With this step, Owaisi and his party, clearly, are trying to give its expansion in north and central India added strength.

The urban local body polls in MP will be held next year.

AIMIM will use the polls to make its electoral entry into the state. Currently, the party is reportedly exploring its space through a survey which is expected to fetch it a picture of its position in the state.

Owaisi's party is looking at tapping areas with a large number of Muslim voters in Indore, Balaghat, Ratlam, Khargone, Javra, Jabalpur and Mandsaur.

Owaisi is looking at making a foray in MP amid a direct political fight between the Congress and the BJP, and in a scenario of the presence of the Bahujan Samaj Party locked in a contest against the BJP and Congress.

AIMIM's stepping into a contest to find its place in the urban local body elections is likely to chip away at the strength enjoyed by the Congress.

Owaisi's interest in contesting the polls in MP is part of his expansion drive outside his home turf Hyderabad. He is making moves to knit alliances in Uttar Pradesh, in Bihar, where he fielded 20 candidates in the Assembly polls to win five seats.