In a big setback to Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) today barred the party from contesting civic polls in the state.
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State Election Commissioner J.S. Saharia said that the registrations have been cancelled as these parties failed to provide their income details and annual Income Tax Returns and audit reports as required under the law. The decision means that MIM can not contest local body elections in Maharashtra, including panchayat and civic body polls.
The State Election Commission reportedly took this decision after the AIMIM did not respond to notices sent to the party asking it to submit the reports. The bypoll was necessitated after a Shiv Sena corporator was disqualified for providing the Election Commission with a fake Other Backward Caste certificate.
Owaisi’s AIMIM won 11 seats in the Nanded municipal polls in 2012 – first time the party contested elections outside Hyderabad.
AIMIM has two members in the state Assembly. There are 359 political parties registered with it, which includes 17 recognised national political parties and the rest 342 political parties are unrecognised political parties. The SEC cancelled the registration of the party for not filing Income Tax returns and audited accounts.
The decision means the AIMIM cannot contest local body elections in Maharashtra, including panchayat and civic body polls.
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Notices were served to 326 parties for failure to submit necessary documents, Saharia said. “Now we will appeal the decision to higher authority”, he said. However, it made its biggest impression in Aurangabad past year after bagging 26 of the 54 seats it contested and emerging as the second largest party in the civic polls.
