The AIMIM has emerged as one of the surprise performers in the Maharashtra civic polls, winning 126 corporator seats across 13 corporations in the state and registering strong gains in cities such as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad) and Malegaon.
The results mark a significant recovery for the party after its relatively weak showing in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, underscoring its growing presence in urban Maharashtra, particularly in Muslim-dominated areas. In an interview with The Indian Express, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, the Hyderabad MP, discusses the party’s performance, the shifting political choices of minority voters, and the road ahead.
* The AIMIM has won 126 seats in Maharashtra’s civic polls, almost doubling its tally in the state’s corporations. What do you credit for this improved performance?
We have been active everywhere, even in places where we did not win in the parliamentary and Assembly polls. We kept meeting people, worked on their issues, and organised multiple public meetings. Our leaders travelled extensively.
In the parliamentary elections, both the BJP and the so-called secular parties came together to defeat Imtiyaz Jaleel. Yet, he secured more than 3 lakh votes. About a month-and-a-half ago, in the municipal elections, we won 85 seats. This is God’s grace and the trust of the people. Everybody worked very hard.
We ran an intense election campaign. Our MLAs from Hyderabad travelled to Maharashtra and held public meetings. All our leaders fanned out across Solapur, Latur, Nanded, Parbhani, Dhule, and other key regions.
* We are seeing Muslim-dominated cities voting for parties led by community members. Does this mark a decisive shift of Muslim voters away from the secular parties, or is this a purely local, municipal phenomenon?
What kind of secular parties are you talking about? In Malegaon, Mufti sahab (Mohammaed Ismail Abdul Khalique) is our MLA. In Govandi, we have won a majority of the eight seats. In Aurangabad, our Hindu candidate has won. You cannot look at everything only through the prism of one religion. It is wrong to see AIMIM’s victory through the prism of religion. What will you then call BJP victories?
* In several corporations, parties such as the Congress and the Samajwadi Party once received significant minority votes but have performed poorly this time. Why do you think this has happened?
Only they can answer why this is happening. We are doing our work and people are free to choose. Elections are the best form of expressing like or dislike.
They have lost thrice and Narendra Modi continues to be the Prime Minister. They have lost thrice in Maharashtra as well. Do they have an answer? What is left with you?
The electorate, especially the youth, has realised that they require a party that can put forward their views and help new leadership emerge. Muslim and Dalit areas are not well developed. In many areas, water comes once every five days and people have to buy drinking water, while the BJP claims it has a triple-engine government. These are issues that perturb people.
The silence of secular parties on atrocities against Muslims has also not gone unnoticed. In Akola, my convoy was stopped by some youth who told me they would vote for us. They said that when Akola witnessed communal riots, only the AIMIM came and helped them.
No one talks about the incarceration of Muslim youth under the draconian UAPA. There is a complete list of factors that have led to this shift.
* Malegaon has thrown up the ISLAM party as the single-largest group, with the AIMIM coming second. Are you open to an alliance with them to run the corporation?
This is a question that only Mufti Ismail can answer. I am not in a position to respond to this. He is handling the party there and it will be his decision. Whatever decision he takes will be acceptable to me.
* Given this electoral momentum in urban Maharashtra, does the AIMIM now see itself playing a larger role in state-level politics, including Assembly elections, or will the focus remain on municipal governance and grassroots expansion?
Jaleel sahab lost the Assembly election by only 1,100 votes. Nasir Siddiqui also lost by a narrow margin. In Shivaji Nagar–Makhurd, we lost by 11,000 votes in the Assembly. But if you project the civic poll votes this time, we are winning the constituency by 20,000 votes.
In Dhule, our candidate had earlier gone away to Ajit Pawar. Now we have 12 corporators there. This shows we have a strong ground presence and that the civic polls have given us much-needed momentum.
Now we are preparing for the Zilla Parishad polls. We cannot sit on today’s laurels. As Sunil Gavaskar once said, after you make a century, the next day you have to start from scratch. We have to start from scratch, work on the ground and use this momentum to build the party further in the state.
