Is the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's (AIMIM) attempt to forge a socio-political coalition of Muslims and Dalits paying off? AIMIM has emerged as the second-largest party in the Aurangabad municipal corporation, overtaking both the Congress and NCP. It did so by managing to reach out beyond its core Muslim vote base- five of its 26 newly-elected corporators are Dalits.

Although the Shiv Sena-BJP managed to retain power in the largest civic body in Marathwada. But the hardline AIMIM secured just two seats less than the Sena's 28 and two more than the BJP's 24. The AIMIM had secured a political opening in the state by winning two seats in the 2014 assembly polls.

The results, which made the intense Hindu-Muslim polarisation evident, come as a morale booster to the AIMIM after its rout in the Bandra East by-elections. Muslims make up for 10.6% of Maharashtra's population, with Dalits at 14%. Buddhist Dalits (erstwhile Mahars who converted to Buddhism with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar) comprise a majority among Dalits."So far, the Congress- NCP have been getting votes from Dalits, but doing little for them in return... we will also take the OBCs along," said former journalist and AIMIM MLA from Aurangabad, Imtiaz Jaleel, adding that they were working towards this rainbow coalition. Of the 54 seats that it contested, the AIMIM had fielded Dalits on 13.

"Ambedkarites (Buddhist Dalits) are frustrated at not getting a share of power," said Republican Sena chief and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's grandson Anandraj Ambedkar, adding that leaders of (Buddhist-dominated) RPI factions had cornered all political benefits, leaving their activists fuming. "These frustrated workers are switching over to the AIMIM," said Anandraj.The AIMIM, which stormed on to Maharashtra's political scene by winning 11 seats in the 2012 Nanded civic polls, had then allied with the Dalit-dominated Samvidhan party. It also fielded Dalits in the assembly polls, including former minister Gangadhar Gade.

"There is a vacuum in the Muslim leadership. The Congress has failed the Muslims, who feel no one stands up for them, and are hence looking to the AIMIM," said a senior Dalit leader, adding that the party was also trying to woo Dalits as an auxiliary constituency. He added that a Muslim-Dalit mobilisation would cause a counter mobilisation for pro-Hindutva parties.This is not the first time that a Dalit- Muslim coalition has been attempted. In the 1980s, Dalit leader Jogendra Kawade had joined alleged smuggler Haji Mastan Mirza to form the Dalit Muslim Suraksha Mahasangh. More recently, the Bahujan Mukti Party (BMP) supported by Waman Meshram's All India Backward (SC, ST, OBC) and Minority Communities Employees' Federation (BAMCEF) faction, had tried to field German Bakery blasts accused Mirza Himayat Beg from Aurangabad in the Lok Sabha polls.

"This (Dalit-Muslim combination) is also an economic coalition," explained a former Dalit Panther activist, adding that the two made up most of the toiling class and shared the same problems. "The AIMIM may be trying to encash this solidarity," he said, adding that the contradictions, though, were likely to manifest soon."Muslim leaders have not done anything substantial for the community. Plus, Aurangabad is an emotional city due to its history (as the capital of the Nizam of Hyderabad's dominions in Maharashtra), where Muslims vote on patterns, unlike their brethren in areas like Western Maharashtra," said Shabbir Ansari of the All India Muslim OBC Organisation (AIMOBC). "Muslims have no strong leader," he noted, lamenting that the community or society at large lack social movements.