India, Dec. 29 -- The Congress suffered a setback ahead of the Solapur Municipal Corporation elections after former corporator Firdos Patel, who was announced as the Congress candidate from Ward 16, joined All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) on Sunday in the presence of the party's state working president Farukh Shabdi and other leaders.

Patel, a close aide of Solapur MP Praniti Shinde and a sitting councillor elected on a Congress ticket in 2017, figured in the Congress's first list of 20 candidates for the civic polls.

Explaining her move, Patel said she faced "disrespectful treatment" during the candidate selection interviews, prompting her decision to quit Congress and join AIMIM. Her induction is expected to bolster AIMI...