Rajya Sabha polls: To defeat BJP, AIMIM announces support to Cong candidate in Maha

Aurangabad: With an aim to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has extended support to Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and will vote for Congress candidate Imran Pratapgarhi in the Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra.

However, the political differences of AIMIM will continue with Shiv Sena which is an ally of the MVA-led Maharashtra government, the party’s state unit president Imtiaz Jaleel said.

“To defeat BJP, our party @aimim_national has decided to vote for Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the Rajya Sabha elections in Maharashtra. Our political/ideological differences however will continue with @ShivSena which is a partner in MVA along with @INCIndia and @Maha_speaks_ncp,” Imtiaz Jaleel tweeted.

He also said that the AIMIM “laid certain conditions related to the development of our MLAs constituencies in Dhulia and Malegaon”.

The party has also demanded the Maharashtra government appoint a minority member to Maharashtra Public Service Commission and “take steps” to increase the income of the Maharashtra Wakf Board.

“We laid certain conditions related to the development of our MLAs constituencies in Dhulia and Malegaon. Also demanded the government to appoint a minority member in MPSC and take steps to increase the income of the Maharashtra Wakf Board. Also demanded reservations for Muslims,” the AIMIM leader further said in a tweet.

“Our 2 AIMIM Maharashtra MLAs have been asked to vote for @INCIndia candidate @ShayarImran for Rajya Sabha’s seat. We extend our best wishes to him! @asadowaisi,” he added.

The voting for Rajya Sabha seats is underway as the polling has begun at 9 am and will conclude at 4 pm.

There are seven candidates are in the electoral fray for six seats in Maharashtra. The BJP has fielded three candidates in the state– Union minister Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mhadik. From the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar; NCP’s Praful Patel and Congress’ Imran Pratapgarhi are in the fray.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had convened a meeting of the MLAs in the state and exuded confidence in all the four candidates of the Maha Vikas Aghadi of winning the Rajya Sabha polls.