Lucknow: The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has sought registration as a state party in Uttar Pradesh and has applied for the same with the Election Commission of India.
This, party sources said, is a part of the preparation for a political debut of the AIMIM in Uttar Pradesh.
AIMIM’s state convener Shauqat Ali said, “The AIMIM has approached the Election Commission for registration as a state party. Once the process of registration is over, we will start our preparations for the assembly polls in a big way”.
He said the party has also started the screening of candidates for panchayat elections to be held within the next couple of months and was looking at the panchayat elections as a dry run before the state polls.
“In all, we will contest from around 40 districts except Bundelkhand and Varanasi as our membership drive is under way in these regions,” he said.
Denying reports of a split within the party, Mr Shauqat Ali said that this was an attempt to malign the image of the party.
He said that once the AIMIM gets registered as a party in Uttar Pradesh, the office-bearers of the state unit will be appointed.
He said that as of now there was no organisational structure and anyone who claims to be an office-bearer of the party’s state unit, should back-up his claims with documentary evidence of being assigned the post by the party.
Maulana Sabi-ur-Rehman, who claims to be the general secretary of AIMIM's state unit, had sparked off a controversy recently after he alleged that he was not being invited to party meetings.
