Headlines
AIMIM emerges second largest party in Aurangabad civic polls
Aurangabad/Mumbai, April 23
The
Hyderabad-based All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) emerged
as the second largest party in the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation
elections and is poised to become the main opposition party, in the
results declared here on Thursday.
AIMIM secured 26 seats in the
113-member civic body, pushing behind the Congress, which secured 11
seats, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with two seats, while
other smaller parties and independents bagged 23 seats.
The
ruling Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance secured control
over the civic body by bagging 52 seats, emerging as the single largest
group, but falling short of a simple majority in the civic house, in the
elections held on Wednesday.
In terms of individual party
performance, with 26 seats, the AIMIM stood in second position just
behind the Shiv Sena's 28 and ahead of the BJP with 24 seats in the
civic elections, followed by the other parties.
The AIMIM, which
had at least three Dalit candidates besides non-Muslims, emerged as the
principal opposition party in the city, renowned globally for the nearby
Ajanta-Ellora caves.
Elsewhere, in Navi Mumbai, the NCP retained
control over the civic body, bagging 52 seats in the 111-member house,
but without gaining a simple majority.
The Shiv Sena got 38
seats, the BJP six and other parties managed six seats, indicating that
the NCP would need the support of Independents to rule.
NCP
strongman and architect of the party's victory Ganesh Naik expressed
hope that the Congress would join his party in the civic body.
Seven
other municipal councils, including Ambarnath and Badlapur in Thane
district, Wadi and Mowad in Nagpur, Rajgurunagar in Pune, Varangaon in
Jalgaon and Bhokar in Nanded also went to polls and the results were
announced on Thursday.
Shiv Sena MP from Aurangabad Chandrakant
Khaire's nephew Sachin lost the election to Independent Raju Tanwani
from Gulmandi ward.
This prompted Chandrakant Khaire to comment
that the Shiv Sena should have contested the elections independently,
but its ally BJP termed it his personal view.
The flavour of the
civic polls, AIMIM's stunning performance came close on the heels of the
party bagging two seats in the October 2014 assembly elections,
including one in Byculla, Mumbai, and one in Aurangabad.
Aurangabad's
AIMIM legislator Imtiyaz Jaleel told media persons that the election
outcome proved that "the people are tired of false promises made by
other parties and they only want development".
He predicted that in future the AIMIM will perform even better and show that people's power was supreme compared to money power.
The
AIMIM made a soft entry in Maharashtra in 2012, bagging 11 seats in the
81-member Nanded Municipal Corporation elections that year.
Progressing
steadily, it is now preparing for the forthcoming BrihanMumbai
Municipal Corporation elections due in early 2017, and other important
civic bodies like Pune and Thane.