Mumbai: The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has emerged as one of the most significant gainers in the Maharashtra municipal elections, recording its strongest-ever performance across urban local bodies.
From holding onto its traditional strongholds in Marathwada to making inroads in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, the party’s latest showing marks a notable expansion of its footprint in the state’s civic politics.
According to the final results declared Friday by the Maharashtra Election Commission, the AIMIM has won 33 seats in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, reinforcing its position as a major force in the Marathwada region.
The party also secured 21 seats in Malegaon, continuing its dominance in the Muslim-majority power loom town. Beyond these established bases, the AIMIM posted notable gains in several other municipal corporations, with 14 seats in Nanded Waghala, 12 in Amravati, and 10 in Dhule.
The party’s growth was not limited to Marathwada and north Maharashtra.
The AIMIM won eight seats in Solapur, six seats in Nagpur, three in Akola, and two seats each in Ahilyanagar and Jalna, underlining a broad-based presence across Vidarbha and western Maharashtra.
The AIMIM made a notable breakthrough in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), winning eight seats in India’s richest civic body. The party also secured five seats in Thane, establishing its strong presence across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
AIMIM National Spokesperson Waris Pathan posted a video on X, thanking the people of Maharashtra. “The whole of Maharashtra has shown how high the graph of the Majlis Ittihad-ul-Muslimeen is going. This is the result of the hard work of our party president, Asaduddin Owaisi sahib,” he said.
“This shows that people’s love for the Majlis is increasing day by day. The people of Maharashtra have accepted Mr. Asaduddin Owaisi as their leader.”
Shukria Maharashtra!! pic.twitter.com/n4np99lhSh
— Waris Pathan (@warispathan) January 16, 2026
Also Read: Fading in the city it was born, Congress slips to its lowest total in Mumbai’s BMC polls
Sharp rise from previous polls
With a total of 125 seats across municipal bodies, the latest performance represents a substantial improvement for the AIMIM over previous municipal elections in Maharashtra.
In the last civic polls held in 2017, the AIMIM had won 81 seats across 29 civic bodies, with only two seats in Mumbai. While that tally itself was considered a breakthrough, the current results show the party consolidating and, in several cities, expanding beyond its earlier base.
“I regret not being able to go to Western Maharashtra and do the election campaign. We were in Bihar when the dates were announced. Had we focused on Western Maharashtra too, maybe our corporators would have won there too,” AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi told a press conference in Hyderabad on Saturday.
On political allegations that his party has been trying to cut into the Congress party’s traditional strongholds, Owaisi said, “A king cannot be born from a queen’s womb. This is democracy. Anyone can come and contest against me.”
In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, which has a total of 29 wards with 115 seats, the AIMIM has steadily improved, turning itself into a consistent challenger to the BJP and the Congress.
“In this city, the way that Congress and Rashtrawadi (NCP) campaigned, everyone knows that these people can someday ally with the BJP. Only the AIMIM party will never be in alliance with the BJP. That’s why the people trust us. And as a result, we have won seven seats in Nagpur, 21 in Malegaon, and nine in Mumbai,” AIMIM Maharashtra president Imtiyaz Jaleel told reporters at the party’s victory rally in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar after securing second place.
While the BJP secured 57 seats, the AIMIM emerged as the second largest party yet again with 33 seats, a rise from the 23 won in 2017, and leaving behind the Congress (1 seat), Shiv Sena (Shinde, 13 seats), Shiv Sena (UBT, 6 seats) and the NCP (SP, 1 seat).
“We will take on the role of the opposition party in the city with sincerity,” Jaleel said. “The BJP wanted to end both Shiv Senas. Their conspiracy was how to end Eknath Shinde. Today, in all major cities, the BJP has won. They have used Ajit Pawar, they have used Eknath Shinde. They have a use-and-throw strategy, and they have used and thrown. Now we are here.”
Another victory for the party came in the Muslim stronghold of Malegaon, which has a total of 84 seats. The AIMIM was able to secure 21 seats, a huge improvement on the seven seats it won in 2017.
The party has here grabbed the second place here too, behind the Indian Secular Largest Assembly of Maharashtra (ISLAM) party with 35 seats.
In 2017, the Congress had emerged as the single largest party here with 28 seats, while this year, it has been reduced to just three seats. The BJP, with just two seats, too fared worse than the last time, when it secured 9 seats.
Beyond traditional strongholds
What stands out in these elections is the AIMIM’s ability to move beyond a handful of familiar centres. Gains in Amravati, Nagpur, Akola and Solapur indicate that the party is finding resonance in parts of Vidarbha and western Maharashtra where it historically had a limited presence.
In Thane, the AIMIM was able to increase its seat count to five from two in 2017, achieving a steady growth on the civic map of one of the fastest-growing urban regions adjoining Mumbai. Similarly, victories in Dhule and Nanded Waghala point to the party’s growing organisational depth in north Maharashtra and Marathwada.
These gains have come at a time when traditional parties sch as the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party have struggled to hold their urban bases, while factionalism within larger alliances has fragmented votes in several wards.
Congress leader Sachin Sawant told ThePrint, “The thing is, any vote going to a communal party, a party with a communal agenda, should be a worrisome factor for any democratic party.”
On the votes from the party’s traditional base being split, he said, “The pattern and the necessity to vote some party in or vote some party out, the reasons and conditions are different. So you cannot generalise it.”
On the conversations around the AIMIM purportedly cutting into the Congress bases, a Congress leader told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity that such “conversation contributes to the larger agenda and narrative of the BJP. The MIM is an Indian Party only. Minorities vote for parties that are againstthe BJP because they are scared of the BJP”.
“The MIM’s role has helped the BJP narrative. Even they use polarisation tactics, with the same political structure as the BJP.”
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)