- By Aditya Jha
- Fri, 10 Apr 2026 04:19 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Bengal Polls: With just a few days remaining in the West Bengal Assembly election, all the political parties have intensified their campaigns. In a major development, the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM broke its ties with Humayun Kabir's Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) on Friday after a video went viral allegedly showing Kabir's undisclosed alliance with the BJP. The AIMIM has decided to contest 12 seats in Bengal where the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) won comfortably.
The party has fielded candidates in the Mothabari and Sujapur seats of Malda district; Suti, Raghunathganj, and Kandi constituencies of Murshidabad district; Nalhati and Murarai of Birbhum; Asansol Uttar of Paschim Bardhaman; Habra, Barasat, and Basirhat South of North 24 Parganas districts; and the Karandighi seat of Uttar Dinajpur district. While nine of these 12 seats will go to the polls on April 23, voting on the remaining seats will be held on April 29, the second phase.
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The opposition leaders, including Tejashwi Yadav, Abhishek Banerjee, and Akhilesh Yadav, have accused the AIMIM of helping the BJP by splitting the Muslim votes. While responding to these allegations, the party's Bengal in-charge, Adil Hasan, asserted that the seats contested by the party are close to the Seemanchal region of Bihar, where the AIMIM already has a strong presence.
"These seats have a mixed population of Hindus and Muslims. The party is contesting to represent minorities and marginalised sections. Many constituencies are close to Seemanchal," Hasan was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.
Earlier in the 2021 assembly election, the Asaduddin Owaisi-led party contested six seats; however, it failed even to open its account. All the candidates of AIMIM lost their deposits, and the average vote share of the party remained below 1 per cent. However, Owaisi claimed that Muslims are not happy with the current government, adding that the AIMIM will improve its tally this time.