Want AIMIM to show from its actions that it is not BJP’s B team and quite eager for its defeat. In Maharashtra, we will ally with NCP and Congress so that the allegation of being BJP’s B team will be permanently erased: Imtiaz Jaleel
Like-minded parties should come together, but whether AIMIM is secular and like-minded needs to be studied: Jayant Patil
All three parties are run with the ideology of Shivaji Maharaj and Sambhaji Maharaj. They are our ideals but if some party bows down before Aurangzeb’s grave and if he is their idol, they can’t be Maharashtra’s role model: Sanjay Raut
Congress does not accept fundamentalism of any society or religion. We want equality of all religions; Balasaheb Thorat
The Sena has started 'Azaan' competition and saying Janab Balasaheb Thackrey, hence their coming together cannot be ruled out: Devendra Fadnavis
Mumbai: The Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s offer to tie up with the Nationalist Congress Party and Congress in a bid to defeat the BJP in Maharashtra has sparked debate. The AIMIM had won two seats in the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections. AIMIM MP Imtiaz Jaleel, during his meeting with Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope, who had gone to his residence to offer condolences on his mother’s demise, proposed his party’s readiness for an alliance, adding that the AIMIM was not the BJP’s B-team.
However, the NCP and Congress have turned down the AIMIM’s offer, while the Shiv Sena, which is yet to digest the loss of the Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat to Jaleel, claimed an alliance with the AIMIM won’t be possible.
“It is always alleged that the BJP wins because of us (AIMIM - due to splitting of the Muslim vote). To prove this allegation wrong, I proposed to Tope that we are ready for an alliance. However, he didn’t say anything,” said Jaleel, who heads the Maharashtra unit of AIMIM.
Jaleel said the NCP and the Congress would probably turn down the offer, owing to opposition from the Shiv Sena. However, he noted that this move would give no excuse to the ‘secular parties’ who blame the AIMIM for indirectly helping the BJP win. “In Maharashtra, we will ally with the NCP and the Congress so that the allegation of being BJP’s B-team will be permanently erased,” he said.
However, state NCP chief Jayant Patil said it was the public’s view that the AIMIM was the BJP’s B-team and it had been witnessed in the recent UP election too, where Samajwadi Party candidates were defeated by thin margins. “The AIMIM will have to show through its actions that it is not the BJP’s B-team. Like-minded parties should come together, but whether the AIMIM is secular and like-minded needs to be studied. The party should also not make use of poisonous language,” Patil told reporters in Mumbai.
According to Patil, the AIMIM’s role in the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation will prove the decider. “Whether it contests to make the BJP win or lose needs to be seen,” he added.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut has ruled out the possibility of any tie-up, overt or covert, with the AIMIM. “Maharashtra has a three-party government and will remain so. Who is the fourth or the fifth one, why does it matter? All three parties are run with the ideology of Shivaji Maharaj and Sambhaji Maharaj. They are our ideals but if some party bows down before Aurangzeb’s grave and if he is their idol, they cannot be Maharashtra’s role model,” Raut said.
Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat, who is the Congress Legislature Party leader, also expressed the party’s inability to tie up with the AIMIM.
“Congress does not accept fundamentalism of any society or religion. We are for the equality of all religions. We believe in the philosophy of taking everyone along and moving forward accordingly,” he said.
However, Leader of the Opposition Devendra Fadnavis said, “Will the Sena and AIMIM come together? This cannot be ruled out. The Sena has started ‘azaan’ competitions and said ‘Janaab’ Balasaheb Thackeray, hence their coming together cannot be ruled out.” He said people had faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and would elect the BJP to power again, because of his leadership and development work.
