Nagpur: The AIMIM has given a proposal to the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) for an alliance but will move on its own if the opposition bloc doesn’t respond by September 9, party leader Imtiaz Jaleel said on Saturday.
Jaleel said they are keen on contesting from a handful of seats where the Hyderabad-headquartered All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has strong influence.
Jaleel told reporters in Nagpur that they feel that the BJP-led Mahayuti, also comprising Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and NCP headed by Ajit Pawar, should not form the government in Maharashtra.
Despite a mismatch in the ideologies of AIMIM and Shiv Sena (UBT), Jaleel said they are ready to align with the MVA out of “political compulsions” and in the interest of farmers and the people of the state.
Elections to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly will likely be held in a month or two.
Jaleel said they have had some talks with the leaders of MVA – Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) – over AIMIM’s proposal to fight on seats where the party is strong.
MVA had sought some time to discuss AIMIM’s proposal but that has not happened, he said. “We did not propose too many seats,” he said.
“We have waited a lot. What if they refuse to take us on board at the last minute? If they don’t respond by September 9, we will start distributing forms for our aspiring candidates. We will decide how many seats AIMIM will contest in the state. We are reviewing our position,” he said.
In the 2019 assembly elections, AIMIM contested 44 seats and won two. Of the main players, BJP bagged 105 seats, followed by undivided NCP (56) and Shiv Sena (54), and Congress (44).
“It looks like they want only three chairs on the dais… that of Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray and Nana Patole (state Congress chief). They don’t want us to be the fourth party on the dais,” he said.
Jaleel, who earlier represented the Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat, said his party may not benefit much from an alliance with the MVA, but the opposition grouping could suffer huge losses if it doesn’t take AIMIM along.
Asked if “bulldozer justice” will abate in the country in the wake of the Supreme Court coming hard on it, Jaleel said he doesn’t think the action would stop. “Such observations have been made earlier too. But the question is whether they will obey the court,” he added.
