Uddhav Thackeray Said Shiv Sena Will Not Ally With AIMIM, Called It BJP's 'B-Team': Sanjay Raut

AIMIM MP Imtiaz Jaleel had reiterated his offer to ally with Shiv Sena-led MVA saying, "let's add another wheel to the (three-wheeled) autorickshaw and make it a comfortable car."

New Delhi: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said that the Uddhav Thackeray-led party will not form an alliance with All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).

This statement comes after AIMIM MP Imtiaz Jaleel caused a flutter in Maharashtra politics by saying that his party can form an alliance with the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition to prevent the BJP from coming to power.

"Uddhav Thackeray in his meeting with party MPs and district presidents today said that Shiv Sena will not ally with AIMIM. He added that AIMIM is BJP's 'B-team'," Sanjay Raut said on Sunday, as quoted by news agency ANI.

Earlier, the Shiv Sena MP had cleared the speculation around the proposed AIMIM alliance by saying: "The Maharashtra government is formed by three parties, Shiv Sena, Congress, and Nationalist Congress Party. There will be no inclusion of any fourth party."

Calling the alliance completely unthinkable, he added, "Our party was formed on the values of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Sambhaji Maharaj and would continue with the same values. Why would we form an alliance with a party which bows down at Aurangzeb's grave?. How can you even think of that?".

AIMIM's Maharashtra State President Proposed Alliance

On Saturday, AIMIM MP Imtiaz Jaleel reiterated his offer while speaking to a Marathi news channel: "There is no power left in them (Shiv Sena) to defeat the BJP single-handed. That's why they need the support of Congress and NCP. I propose that let's add another wheel to the (three-wheeled) autorickshaw and make it a comfortable car. We have expelled the corporator who had opposed the singing of 'Vande Mataram' (in the Aurangabad municipal corporation) and he has joined the NCP now", news agency PTI reported.

As Shiv Sena rejected the offer, Jaleel said that the AIMIM is willing to enter into an alliance with Congress and NCP in the upcoming Maharashtra civic polls to defeat BJP but the Uddhav Thackeray-led party should be kept out.

Imtiaz Jaleel, who is also AIMIM's Maharashtra state president, said that "whenever the BJP wins, AIMIM is held responsible for it, stating we are the "B" team of BJP. So we have given a proposal to Congress for alliance with our party in Maharashtra."

"I know they will not agree to it as they have an alliance with Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, but at least we will not be held responsible for BJP's victory as we gave a proposal of alliance to them," the AIMIM leader told ANI.

The municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra are due in April this year.