AIMIM barred from state civic polls

Dealing a major blow to Asaduddin Owaisi, the State Election Commission (SEC) yesterday suspended the registration of his All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) as a state political party for failure to submit annual audited reports and income tax returns.

It also deregistered 190 smaller parties and local fronts.

With this move, the AIMIM will not be able to use its election symbol - the kite - at next year's BMC elections. It will have to field candidates as independents and not all contestants will get a uniform election symbol, making a conventional campaign difficult. The AIMIM holds two assembly seats, one each in Mumbai and Aurangabad. It also has 26 seats in the Aurangabad corporation.

AIMIM's Mumbai MLA Waris Pathan said the party headquarters in Hyderabad had furnished the requisite documents. "We will appeal the order," he told mid-day.

Pathan said the SEC had served a notice to the AIMIM four months ago, after which the party represented its case before the commission's secretary. "We don't know where our documents have gone from the commission's office."

There's still hope
SEC chief JS Sahariya said there is a provision for appeal. He said the AIMIM should furnish a proof of submission of documents. "We will then reconsider our decision."

Sahariya said parties could seek an extension of three months to submit documents by paying a penalty.

If the AIMIM misses this three-month deadline, it will have to re-start the process of registration. But this may take at least six months, said Sahariya.