The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has sent feelers to the Nationalist Congress Party for it to be included in the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance to take on the BJP.

The NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena, the three members of Maharashtra’s ruling coalition, have however scotched the possibility of any alliance with the AIMIM, calling the Asaduddin Owaisi-led party a ‘B team’ of the BJP.

AIMIM’s Lok Sabha member, Imtiaz Jaleel, told ET on Saturday that he made the proposal when Maharashtra health minister and NCP leader Rajesh Tope visited his house three days ago to offer condolences on the death of his mother.

“One of the NCP functionaries who was with Tope claimed that the AIMIM had helped the BJP win in Uttar Pradesh. I quickly corrected him and said that the AIMIM had only impacted the Samajwadi Party in seven seats in UP,” Jaleel said. “Why are we being blamed for contesting in UP when the NCP also contested in UP and in fact the Congress contested in more than 400 seats; weren’t the votes getting divided then”.”