AIMIM splitting Ahmedabad Congress unit?

AHMEDABAD: Even as Congress faces stiff resistance from several of its municipal councillors in Ahmedabad over the proposal to name Shehzad Khan Pathan as leader of the opposition in the AMC, the All IndiaMajlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has rolled out the red carpet to welcome disgruntled Congress councillors.
“Not only Shahzad Khan Pathan, other Congress councillors are also in touch with us.We are welcoming everybody who wants to join us and strengthen AIMIM in Gujarat,” Shamshad Pathan, state general secretary of AIMIM, told TOI on Monday. He added that the party has been expanding its base in the state rapidly and those who want to join AIMIM are welcome.
This came even as Congress’s Danilimda councillor Shehzad Khan Pathan said that it was not wrong for a party worker to have expectations from the party. Pathan, however, added that he would abide by the decision of the party regarding the post of leader of opposition in the AMC.
On Sunday, a dozen city Congress councillors handed over a signed letter to the state leadership saying they would quit the party if Pathan was chosen as the leader of opposition in the AMC.
All of AIMIM’s gains in the AMC election last year, have been at the expense of the Congress. Making its debut in Gujarat’s electoral politics last year, AIMIM contested 21 seats in the AMC election and won seven seats.
The Asaduddin Owaisi-led party won four seats in the Jamalpur ward and three in the Maktampura ward. All these seven seats were held by the Congress in the 2015 AMC election.