AIMIM's Imtiyaz Jaleel registers an upset in Aurangabad seat

AURANGABAD: Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) may have failed to make its impact on the Lok Sabha elections but its candidate Imtiyaz Jaleel has put up a gallant fight to win the Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency by a slim margin of 4640 votes on Thursday.


Jaleel, who represents All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), defeated Shiv Sena’s four-time MP Chandrakant Khaire by a hairline margin.

Imtiyaz’s victory, however, was made easier thanks to the presence of independent candidate Harshvardhan Jadhav, the former Sena MLA from Kannad. Jadhav, who is also the son-in-law of the state BJP chief Raosaheb Danve, earlier had tried to get Congress nomination through then district unit president Abdul Sattar but eventually stood as an independent candidate.

Incidentally, Harshvardhan Jadhav was the first MLA to submit his resignation ahead of the Maratha reservation thus attracting sizeable Maratha votes to his kitty. He had formed the Shivswarajya paksh to contest the parliamentary election in Aurangabad against Khaire.

Meanwhile, people close to Imtiaz claimed that he received votes from all sections of the society who were upset with the performance of Chandrakant Khaire for all these years. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi - AIMIM nominee Imtiyaz Jaleel was a strong contender, who as the Aurangabad central MLA had carved a niche for himself as a non-controversial MLA and is popular among youths of all hues.

Speaking to reporters from the counting venue, a jubilant Harshvardhan replied, “Whoever won the election, I am the man of the match and man of the series as well.” He also denied that Khaire lost due his presence in the fray. “It’s the people’s decision, after all.”

He also thanked his voters for overwhelmingly supporting him. “I feel fortunate that people supported me to such an extent.” He also declared that in the backdrop of number of votes he received, he would field candidates in other assembly segments and would himself contest the assembly election from Kannad.

Unlike 2014, when Khaire sailed through the Modi wave, this time it was very tough for the beleaguered MP due to a variety of reasons including his meddling into the Aurangabad Municipal corporation affairs and city facing hardship on account of water and garbage issue.

He faced strong anti-incumbency and opposition from his own party workers as well as the local BJP leadership, that was already preparing to take on him, prior to Sena’s alliance with BJP. BJP had also done its homework for the purpose. Entry of Harshvardha Jadhav in the Lok Sabha election arena provided an option to the Khaire baiters in Shiv Sena and the BJP camp, as he had also declared that if got elected he would support Modi.