Owaisi’s AIMIM doubles strength, emerges as a major force in civic polls
AIMIM Party wins more seats than both MNS and NCP (SP)
Asaduddin Owaisi leader of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen. (Express Archive) The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen led by Asaduddin Owaisi has emerged as one of the biggest gainers in the latest round of municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra, nearly doubling its corporator strength and sharply expanding its footprint in urban local bodies across the state.
According to early trends and final tallies, AIMIM is set to win close to 114 corporator seats across 12 of the 29 municipal corporations where it contested, a steep rise from the around 48 seats it had secured in the previous civic elections.
The party recorded its strongest performance in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, where it won 33 seats, establishing itself as one of the major players in the civic body. The AIMIM also posted strong results in Malegaon, securing 21 seats, and in Nanded, where it won 13 seats. In Amravati, the party won 11 seats, while it secured 10 seats in Dhule and eight seats in Solapur.
Smaller but politically significant gains were recorded in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, with five seats each in Mumbai and Mumbra.
AIMIM also won three seats in Akola, two seats each in Ahmednagar and Jalna, and one seat in Parbhani.
AIMIM first registered an electoral breakthrough in Maharashtra in the 2012 Nanded Municipal Corporation elections, when it won 11 seats in the 81-member civic body, marking its debut victory in a state outside Telangana.
The party’s improved showing has come despite considerable internal turbulence within its Maharashtra unit and a relatively subdued campaign. Days before polling, Mumbai unit president Farooq Shabdi resigned, while state unit president Imtiaz Jaleel faced threats over seat distribution, highlighting factional tensions during the run up to the elections.
AIMIM’s rise has also coincided with a weak showing by the Samajwadi Party, which had been targeting the same Muslim vote base in several urban centres.
The AIMIM has interestingly won more seats than both the Maharhastra Navnirman Sena as well as NCP (SP).
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