Mumbai: All India Majlise Ittihadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) city president Haji Farooq Maqbool Shabdi has announced that his party will contest at least 50 seats in the upcoming BMC polls.Speaking to mediapersons, Shabdi said that the new reservation of wards for SCs, STs and OBCs has upset many of the aspirants who hoped to fight the civic elections but the party will go ahead with its plans to field candidates in no less than 50 wards.“Our priority will be the committed workers and not imports from other parties,” said Shabdi, the fourth president of AIMIM in the city.On whether AIMIM is the “B team” of BJP, Shabdi said: “This is an old allegation and our president barrister Asaduddin Owaisi (MP) has clarified it numerous times. We fight on our own strength.”If the AIMIM takes away a chunk of Muslim votes, it will damage the chances of the MVA comprising Congress, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT).
