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Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen or AIMIM has joined the battle for Maharashtra, hoping to expand its niche in the western state. With eye on Muslim and Dalit votes, the party is contesting on 16 seats. Though it won only two seats in 2014 and 2019, its effect had extended to cutting into the non-BJP votes from the Congress, triggering Maha Vikas Aghadi's allegation that it is the "B Team" of the BJP.
AIMIM won Malegaon Central and Dhule in 2019 after contesting on 44 seats, but spoiled the chances of the Congress and Sharad Pawar's undivided NCP on a dozen seats.
This time, the party has fielded four Dalit and 12 Muslim candidates in Aurangabad Central, Aurangabad East, Mumbra-Kalwa (Thane), Malegaon Central, Dhule, Solapur, Nanded South, Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar, Bhiwandi West, Karanja, Nagpur North, Byculla, Versova (Mumbai), Murtizapur (Akola), Kurla and Miraj (Sangli).
Most of these seats are around Mumbai. On almost all seats, there are strong candidates of the Congress, NCP (SP) and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT).
The campaign is being spearheaded by party chief Asaduddin Owaisi and his brother Akbaruddin Owaisi, with the slogan "Jai Bhim, Jai MIM".
Mr Owaisi's hurdles have been multiplied by the Ulema Board, which has supported the MVA with 17 conditions.
The main demands of the board include a ban on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological mentor of the BJP, and opposition to the Waqf Bill.
Mr Owaisi feels this move of the board may lead to a division in his Muslim votebank. But such a split will hit the MVA worse.