Mumbai: Hyderabad politician Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM party cannot contest local body elections in Maharashtra anymore.

The party, which has made inroads into Maharashtra in civic polls, has been derecognized for not submitting proper documents.

The AIMIM or All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen won 11 seats in the 81-member Nanded Municipal Corporation elections in 2012. Last year, it emerged as the second largest party in Aurangabad Municipal election.

Mr Owaisi's party insists that it has submitted every document, including three years of Income Tax returns.

"We are shocked and surprised. We suspect there was political pressure," said an MIM leader.

The state election commission has said that several notices were issued to the party but it did not submit its tax returns or audit reports. The AIMIM is one of the 191 parties to be derecognized by the poll panel.