Politics in Maharashtra has heated up after All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Imtiyaz Jaleel’s statement that the party was ready to forge an alliance with the NCP and Congress, which is the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi is a constituent of the government. Imtiaz Jaleel said his party was not the BJP’s ‘B team’ as alleged by the main political parties. At the same time, on this statement, former Maharashtra CM and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis has said that Shiv Sena’s alliance with AIMIM does not make any difference to us (BJP).
Speaking to the media in Nagpur, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said, “People vote after seeing Prime Minister Modi and our work. But it remains to be seen how Shiv Sena and AIMIM come together.” In fact, the IMIM MP had said that state minister and NCP leader Rajesh Tope had gone to his residence on Friday.
Imtiaz Jaleel said, “AIMIM has always been held responsible for BJP’s victory and it is said that we are BJP’s ‘B’ team, so we had given them (Congress) an open offer to have an alliance with us. Since they are with Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, they will never be ready to forge an alliance with us.”
At the same time, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’s reaction has come on AIMIM MP’s open offer to combine Congress-NCP. Ruling out the possibility of an alliance with AIMIM, Raut said, “Imtiaz Jaleel is an AIMIM MP. I keep meeting him, it doesn’t mean we are in alliance with him.”
The Shiv Sena leader said that we cannot even imagine forging an alliance with AIMIM. Sanjay Raut further said that there is a secret alliance between AIMIM and BJP, which you must have seen in Uttar Pradesh elections.