This is the first time the 92-year old All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen is contesting Lok Sabha elections outside Hyderabad. The party had contested in state assemblies and local body polls and won seats outside Telangana earlier.
AIMIM has named its candidates for Aurangabad and Kishanganj Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra and Bihar respectively.
Party decided to contest Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra in alliance with Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi led by Prakash Ambedkar on Tuesday. Prakash said the MIM to contest in two Lok Sabha seats but, party chief Asaduddin Owaisi chose Aurangabad, where the party had stronghold.
Party president Asaduddin Owaisi has picked Imtiaz Jaleel, a member of Maharashtra Assembly, as the party candidate.
A former journalist, Mr Jaleel was elected from Aurangabad Central Assembly constituency on a AIMIM ticket in 2014. The AIMIM also won Byculla seat in Maharashtra.
“Will be contesting MP seat from Aurangabad on Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and MIM ticket. It’s time for my city to change. It’s not about me. From here on it’s always going to be ‘We’. Let’s all vote for Aurangabad,” tweeted Mr Jaleel.
AIMIM has also named party Bihar president Akhtarul Iman as the candidate for Kishanganj constituency in Bihar.
In Bihar assembly election of 2005, Akhtarul Iman contested from Kochadhaman on a Rashtriya Janata Dal ticket and was elected. He also retained the seat in 2010.
In 2014, Iman was the Janata Dal-United candidate but pulled out at the last minute in favour of Congress’s Mohammad Asrarul Haque, who retained the seat. Iman later joined the MIM.
In Telangana, party chief Owaisi is also likely to win the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat for the fourth term. The party has been winning it since 1984.
The MIM will support Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in Telangana and the YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
