The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has proposed an alliance with the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) but will proceed independently if the opposition bloc does not respond by September 9, party leader Imtiaz Jaleel announced on Saturday.
Jaleel stated that AIMIM is interested in contesting a few key seats where the party has significant influence. Despite ideological differences with the Shiv Sena (UBT), Jaleel expressed willingness to align with the MVA due to “political compulsions” and concerns over the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition, which includes Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and the NCP led by Ajit Pawar.
Elections for Maharashtra’s 288-member assembly are expected within the next couple of months. Jaleel revealed that AIMIM has held preliminary talks with MVA leaders from the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT), and Sharad Pawar’s NCP regarding the party’s proposal to contest seats where it is strong.
MVA has requested additional time to consider AIMIM’s proposal, but no decision has been made yet. “We have waited long enough,” Jaleel said. “If there is no response by September 9, we will begin distributing forms for our candidates and decide how many seats to contest.”
In the 2019 assembly elections, AIMIM contested 44 seats and won two. The BJP secured 105 seats, the undivided NCP 56, Shiv Sena 54, and Congress 44. Jaleel suggested that the MVA might be reluctant to include AIMIM due to a perceived preference for a limited number of prominent party leaders on the alliance’s platform.
Regarding the Supreme Court’s recent comments on “bulldozer justice,” Jaleel expressed scepticism about its impact, questioning whether past observations would lead to real change.
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