AIMIM to contest seats in 27 civic corporations in Maharashtra, open to tie-ups: Jaleel

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Dec 16 (PTI) All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen will contests seats in 27 of the 29 civic corporations in Maharashtra, including Mumbai, going to polls in January and was open to tie-ups with like-minded outfits and Opposition MVA, a party leader said on Tuesday.

AIMIM Maharashtra unit president Imtiaz Jaleel did not elaborate on how many seats the party will contest, but added its candidates will be announced by December 22 or 23 for the January 15 polls.

Talking to a Marathi news channel in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, the former Lok Sabha MP said, "We have party units in almost every district of the state now. We will contest seats in 27 municipal corporations in the state." Jaleel noted the party will focus on areas where it has strong presence.

"We are focussing more on Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city as we were the largest opposition party here (in the last term). We bagged more seats than BJP here. Apart from this, we will contest seats in Nanded, Mumbai and Solapur, among other civic bodies. We may not contest all seats, but we will definitely be contesting in most of the corporations," he stressed.

The journalist-turned-politician claimed one of the constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) approached the AIMIM for a pre-poll alliance, but did not reveal the name of that party.

The MVA consists of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP).

"We are still open for an alliance, but it should be a state-wide alliance. We are also open for an alliance with the MVA," Jaleel added. PTI AW RSY