Mumbai: The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) secured 114 seats in Maharashtra's municipal corporation elections on Friday, January 16, marking a substantial rise from its 81 seats won in selected cities during the 2017 polls.
Building on its recent Bihar Assembly success, AIMIM announced an expanded campaign across the western state in December 2025, a strategic gamble that paid off handsomely as the party strengthened its base in minority strongholds of India's wealthiest state.
Asaduddin Owaisi's door-to-door efforts, combined with the motivation from narrow past defeats, energized party workers, according to leader Shareque Naqshbandi. AIMIM claimed 33 seats in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, 21 in Malegaon, 15 in Amravati, 13 in Nanded, 10 in Dhule, eight in Solapur, six in Mumbai, five in Thane, two in Jalgaon, and one in Chandrapur, outpacing the combined tally of NCP (Sharad Pawar) and Raj Thackeray's MNS.
This surge challenges Congress's eroding minority support and poses a direct threat to the Samajwadi Party in Mumbai and beyond, with AIMIM eyeing greater influence ahead of the 2029 Assembly elections. Analysts highlight consolidation in Marathwada and Western Maharashtra, including defeats of Shiv Sena factions in its Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar stronghold and inroads into BMC and TMC wards previously held by Congress-NCP. Significant gains in Solapur and Dhule further expanded its footprint, with Mumbai seats rising from two in 2017 to six, positioning the party for a vocal opposition role.
Winner Khairunisa Akbar Husain from Mumbai's ward 145 called it a public victory, pledging focus on promised issues. Observers credit AIMIM's emphasis on local infrastructure over national rhetoric, making it a kingmaker in hung councils lacking clear majorities for Mahayuti or Maha Vikas Aghadi, despite a short-lived BJP alliance in Akot that collapsed under opposition backlash. Following 83 seats and a Nagar Parishad presidency in December 2025 local polls, AIMIM frames this as grassroots triumph for development, justice, and oppressed voices through sustained local engagement.