evidence: The Hyderabad based All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) is likely to contest over 70 Assembly constituencies in the West Bengal elections scheduled to be held next year, with the aim to tap into the large minority vote-base in the state. [...] An AIMIM leader from Bengal told this correspondent: "There are at least 15 districts in Bengal where the AIMIM has been able to establish itself. The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress has not done anything for minorities. The minorities here are the poorest in the country and have been used just for vote bank politics by all political parties. We are going to contest on at least 70 seats in the state where we have been able to garner strong support from among the people." Sources from the AIMIM Bengal unit also said that the party is strong in the minority-dominated districts of Malda, Murshidabad, Uttar Dinajpur and along the Indo-Bangladesh border areas of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and in some of the border areas of North Bengal, owing to a large number of minority population in these areas and the economic backwardness of these districts.