Mumbai, March 19 Desperate to prove that it is not a 'Team B' of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is ready to ally with the Maha Vikas Aghadi to keep the BJP out of power in Maharashtra.
State AIMIM President and Aurangabad MP Syed Imtiaz Jaleel said that he had made the proposal to the Nationalist Congress Party's Health Minister Rajesh Tope who paid a condolence visit to him yesterday.
"It has always been alleged that the AIMIM helps the BJP to win elections by splitting the Muslim votes. To disprove these charges, I have made a proposal to Tope that we are ready to ally with the NCP and Congress. He has not commented on our offer," Jaleel told mediapersons late last night.
Jaleel reiterated that the BJP was a 'dangerous party' that has inflicted maximum damage to the country and the AIMIM was ready to ally with any party and do everything possible to keep the saffron party out of power.
As Jaleel's proposal triggered a political debate, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut dismissed the AIMIM offer outright, while the Congress and NCP maintained a silence.
Responding to Raut's rebuff, Jaleel alleged that the Sena had lost its capability to fight the elections on its own and so it needs "crutches" like NCP-Congress, while making the AIMIM a "punching bag" for all their debacles.
"This is an opportunity for you to convert your 'autorickshaw' into a 'four-wheeler' and we can unitedly drive away the BJP from power. The AIMIM is a fighter and will continue to fight BJP not only in Maharashtra but all over India," Jaleel contended.
The AIMIM MP noted that all the parties are ever-eager to bag Muslim votes though they claim to be 'secular', but always blame us when they are defeated.
Jaleel claimed that prior to the recent Uttar Pradesh elections, the AIMIM had made similar tie-up offers to the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis sniggered at the AIMIM's proposal, saying that after this, the Shiv Sena will become a 'Janaab Shiv Sena', and asserted that the BJP will win the next Assembly elections on its own.
Prepared to 'go alone' (Ekla Chalo Re), Jaleel admitted that the AIMIM is beset with a 'politically untouchable' image, but took credit for 'unifying' the Muslim votes which was scattered among various mainstream parties.
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