AIMIM Failed To Open Account In Delhi Elections But Made An Impact. Here's How
In the 2025 Delhi assembly elections, AIMIM's presence in Okhla and Mustafabad split votes, contributing to the BJP's victory in Mustafabad and reducing AAP's margin in Okhla.
The division of votes plays a crucial role in deciding a win or loss in elections. The same happened in two Delhi constituencies where the Hyderabad-based All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) was in the fray.
Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM fielded candidates only in Okhla and Mustafabad — two of seven Delhi constituencies with a significant chunk of Muslim voters — as it contested its first-ever assembly elections in the capital. While both of them failed to make a mark and finished as second runners-up, the ensuing division of the Opposition vote became a factor in the BJP's victory in Mustafabad.
The AIMIM fielded Shifa Ur Rehman Khan from the Okhla constituency, and former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain from Mustafabad. Both of them have been named as accused in cases linked to the Delhi riots, which happened in 2020. Rehman and Hussain are currently in jail.
Lets's discuss what happened in Mustafabad first. In 2020, AAP candidate Haji Yunus won this seat. However, this time, the BJP snatched away the seat. The BJP's Mohan Singh Bisht got 85,215 votes, while the AAP's Adeel Ahmad Khan got 67,637. Here comes the role of the AIMIM. Tahir Hussain secured 33,474 votes, while the Congress's Ali Mehdi got 11,763. This fragmentation of the Opposition vote in the constituency is believed to have worked to the BJP's advantage.
In Okhla, the vote fragmentation brought down the victory margin of AAP incumbent Amanatullah Khan, who has been winning this seat since 2015. In 2020, Amanatullah got about 66% of the votes polled, which came down to 42% this time. In absolute numbers, Amanatullah Khan won by about 24,000 votes this time, a sharp fall from his 2020 margin of 70,000 votes. The AIMIM's decision to field a candidate from Okhla pushed the Congress to the fourth position, from third in 2020. While Amanatullah Khan got 88,948 votes in the 2025 Delhi elections, the BJP's Manish Chaudhary received 65,304. The AIMIM came third with 39,558 votes, with the Congress's Ariba Khan, daughter of former Congress MLA Asif Khan, securing 12,739 votes.
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