Hyderabad: Former MLA and NCP leader Moulana Ismail Qasmi on Thursday formally joined the AIMIM along with 26 corporators in the presence of MP and party’s Maharashtra unit president Syed Imtiaz Jaleel.
Moulana Qasmi had contested from Malegaon constituency in 2014 on NCP ticket, but could not retain his seat. Earlier in 2009, he had won the election as a Jan Sawaraj Party candidate.
Upset over the Congress and NCP entering into electoral pact, Moulana Qasmi had been maintaining a distance from the latter.
Before embarking for Haj, he had taken up his disappointment over the alliance with Congress with the central leadership of the NCP and tendered his resignation. He had also expressed his anguish over the stand taken by the NCP on the triple talaq issue.
AIMIM plans to contest more or less 80 Assembly seats in Maharashtra, where elections are due to be held in October.
