MVA nixes AIMIM offer to join govt.

Maharashtra ruling allies question party’s role vis-à-vis BJP

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s (AIMIM) hopes of joining the Maha Vikas Akhadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra were dashed on Saturday with the Shiv Sena, which heads the ruling alliance, responding to the party’s feelers with a firm no. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, the other MVA constituents, also said the AIMIM must prove that it was a “like-minded” party and not “BJP’s B-team”.

On Friday, Imtiyaz Jaleel, the AIMIM Lok Sabha MP from Aurangabad, had made overtures to NCP chief Sharad Pawar through Maharashtra Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope, saying his party was willing to join the MVA to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Mr. Tope had met Mr. Jaleel to offer condolences to the latter on his mother’s demise.

“In Maharashtra, these parties [Congress and NCP] want votes of Muslims but do not want AIMIM. If you blame us for BJP’s victory, then let us contest elections together,” said Mr. Jaleel, who heads the Maharashtra unit of the AIMIM.

The Aurangabad MP on Saturday reiterated his offer. “There is no power left in them [Shiv Sena] to defeat the BJP single-handed. That’s why they need the support of the Congress and the NCP. I propose that let’s add another wheel to the (three-wheeled) autorickshaw and make it a comfortable car,” he told a Marathi news channel.

The Sena rejected the offer outright. “What happened in Uttar Pradesh is a clear sign that the AIMIM and the BJP help each other. We will never ally with the B-team of the BJP,” said Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut.

NCP State president Jayant Patil said his party does not hold political talks during personal meetings and he believed Mr. Tope did not receive any formal proposal from the AIMIM. “Irrespective of all that, this party [AIMIM] must display its willingness to defeat the BJP. Its history shows otherwise. All the moves that it has made has helped the BJP in elections,” said Mr. Patil.

Maharashtra Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe too slammed the AIMIM over the BJP factor. “There is no intent from the AIMIM to defeat the BJP. Why should we even consider such a proposal?” he said.