AIMIM Master Plan To Snatch Power From BJP In Godhra

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) which won seven seats in the Godhra Municipal Corporation prevented the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party from returning to power in Godhra by joining hands with independent councillors. Godhra was the epicenter of the 2002 Hindutva assertion in Gujarat.

AIMIM Gujarat president Shabbir Kabliwala said, "Out of the seventeen independents who are part of the 44-strong board, five are non-Muslims. We were successful in stopping BJP from returning to power in Godhra municipality."

In polls conducted on February 28, the BJP won 18 seats in the 44-member Godhra Municipality yet, the saffron party may not return to power as the AIMIM threw its weight behind the Independents who won 18 seats, AIMIM got seven seats while the Congress won one seat.

The AIMIM backed Sanjay Soni, the independent councillor who was elected as the president of Godhra Municipality.

AIMIM bagged nine seats in Modasa and also a few seats in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.

The AIMIM collaborated with Bharatiya Tribal Party of Chhotu Vasava, the tribal strongman of South Gujarat, and contested in Gujarat for the civic polls.

In the Surat Municipal Corporation, AAP won 27 seats and Congress didn't get any seats. 

Godhra Incident: On February 27, 2002, 59 train passengers, mostly Hindu devotees who had been returning from Ayodhya, were burnt alive inside S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express near Godhra station in a conspiracy by Muslim miscreants. The incident triggered riots in the state, leading to deaths of hundreds of Muslims and also some Hindus.