The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) announced on Monday the candidature of its Lok Sabha MP Imtiaz Jaleel from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad), the seat he won in 2019.
Jaleel, who also serves as the Maharashtra unit president of the Hyderabad-based party, had expressed a desire to contest from one of the Lok Sabha constituencies in Mumbai. However, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi renominated the journalist-turned-politician from his current seat, which will go to polls on May 13 in phase four.
Owaisi took to the social media platform X to announce Jaleel's candidature, stating that he will contest from Aurangabad (now called Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar). The Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP also announced the candidature of AIMIM leader Akhtarul Iman from the Kishanganj parliamentary seat in Bihar. Iman serves as AIMIM's Bihar unit president.
Earlier, Jaleel had expressed interest in contesting from one of the Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai and sent a proposal to the party leadership in this regard. The Lok Sabha member did not reply to phone calls seeking reaction regarding his renomination from his current seat.
Jaleel emerged victorious in 2019 after defeating the undivided Shiv Sena's candidate Chandrakant Khaire by a margin of 4,492 votes from the seat in the state's Marathwada region. Independent candidate Harshawardhan Jadhav had secured 2.83 lakh votes, contributing to Khaire's defeat.
The notification for the Lok Sabha constituency, one of the 11 seats in Maharashtra going to polls on May 13, will be issued on April 18. The constituency has 30,32,546 registered voters, including 41,465 newly-enrolled electors, who will cast their ballots at 2,040 booths, an official said.
