Asaduddin Owaisi’s door-to-door campaign and the sting of narrow defeats in previous polls energized the workers of All India Majlis E Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in the Maharashtra civic elections, resulting in the party winning 114 seats across the state, its leader Shareque Naqshbandi said on Friday.
The AIMIM won 33 seats in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, 21 in Malegaon, 15 in Amravati, 13 in Nanded, 10 in Dhule, eight in Solapur, six in Mumbai, five in Thane, two in Jalgaon, and one in Chandrapur.
Winning 80 seats in earlier civic polls gave the party an idea of the temperament of the urban voter, which also helped, Naqshbandi told PTI.
"Initially, AIMIM faced a challenge from its own people over candidature in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. Later, the presence of Asaduddin Owaisi and his rallies in potent pockets resulted in AIMIM winning 33 out of 37 seats we contested here. We have bagged wins from Mumbai to Chandrapur this time," he said.
Owaisi dedicated more time to the campaign compared to 2015 and managed to overcome dissidence by speaking to disgruntled leaders and convincing nearly 70 percent of them, Naqshbandi said.
"The rest had already moved ahead by joining other political parties. We brought these people together and this got converted into votes. There were divisions among the opposition parties, which proved to be an opportunity to us. Moreover Asaduddin Owaisi went door to door in the areas where we were contesting. He pointed out local civic issues in smaller rallies which appealed to the voter," he added.
Narrow losses, like the one faced by Imtiaz Jaleel in the 2024 assembly elections from Aurangabad East, had hurt workers who put in extra efforts, Naqshbandi said.
Speaking on the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar civic poll results, former MP Jaleel said the BJP was fighting with the aim of ending the Shiv Sena here.
"The BJP had money and resources but they had a target to end Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde. They severed the alliance at the last moment and achieved their target. Now Shiv Sena is behind us here. They have 4-5 MLAs, one MP and a minister here. But they could do nothing and people have answered them through votes," he told reporters.
The people of the city have stood with AIMIM for the past 12 years, resulting in 33 wins, Jaleel added.
"We are the second biggest party in the city after BJP. We have given candidature to the ordinary people here and they have won here. This is a tight slap to those political parties who gave candidature to their relatives. While the opposition called AIMIM communal, we made people from the Hindu community win seats," he said.