‘If My Flag Was Orange…’: AIMIM Corporator Clarifies Her ‘Paint Mumbra Green’ Remark

AIMIM Corporator Sahar Shaikh issued a clarification over her controversial “paint Mumbra green” remark, which sparked a furore, saying it was being wrongly given a communal colour and was intended purely

in a political sense.

The 22-year-old first-time corporator said that she only spoke about turning Mumbra green because that is the colour of her party flag.

“We are promoting green colour, because the colour of my flag is green. Had the colour of my flag been orange or saffron, I would have promoted it… This was party-level politics, but the opposition turned it into communal politics,” she said as quoted by news agency ANI.

#WATCH | Thane, Maharashtra | On her statement ‘We will turn Mumbra Green’, AIMIM Corporator Sahar Shaikh says, “We are promoting green colour, because the colour of my flag is green. Had the colour of my flag been orange or saffron, I would have promoted it… This was… pic.twitter.com/gbpL3JYHaA

— ANI (@ANI) January 21, 2026

She said that the statement was made in a pun-intended manner and had nothing to do with any community. Shaikh further accused the opposition of turning party-level politics into communal politics. She clarified that by “turning Mumbra green” she meant winning all 25 seats in Mumbra in the next civic elections.

“Does everyone have a stake in a colour? People should stop with their communal politics… I am secular and what I meant was that I want to win all 25 seats of Mumbra…” she added.

Her statement came after a row erupted over her victory speech following the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) elections. In her speech, Shaikh had urged supporters to “paint Mumbra green” in the next elections so that all candidates from the area would be from the AIMIM. She also said the party drew its strength “from Allah” and claimed the election results reflected the Majlis’ growing influence.

“In the next five years, every candidate in Mumbra will be from AIMIM. Mumbra must be completely painted green,” she had said.

During the speech, Shaikh also used dramatic imagery, comparing herself to a lion’s cub and saying an “army of vultures” had tried and failed to defeat her.

Leaders from several political parties criticised the remarks, with the Shinde Sena accusing AIMIM of indulging in communal colour politics and alleging the use of “Pakistan’s language.”.

The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM registered significant gains in the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) results, bagging five of the 131 seats and outperforming larger established parties like Congress, which failed to open its account, and Shiv Sena (UBT), which secured 1 seat.

(With inputs from agencies)