Lok Sabha elections 2024 | Political parties need Muslim votes, but don’t want their leadership: AIMIM MP Imtiaz Jaleel

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Imtiaz Jaleel has said that all political parties need votes from the Muslim community but do not want their leadership.

Addressing an election rally at Sajapur in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jaleel claimed that no one from the Muslim community was present in the Lok Sabha elections in eleven states of the country.

Jaleel is contesting the election from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (earlier Aurangabad), the seat he won in 2019.

The constituency goes to the polls on May 13 in the fourth phase of the general elections.

“All political parties in the country need your vote, but they do not want Muslim leadership. Major political parties have not fielded Muslim candidates in Maharashtra and there are 11 states where candidature has not been given to Muslims,” the AIMIM leader said.

Jaleel further pointed out that there were no Muslim MPs in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Goa and Delhi.

“If we don’t participate, how will we win? When I contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, leaders in the city said I could not win. But the people were behind us,” he said.

Jaleel defeated undivided Shiv Sena candidate Chandrakant Khaire by a margin of 4,492 votes in the 2019 elections. Independent candidate Harshawardhan Jadhav had polled 2.83 lakh votes and contributed to Khaire’s defeat.