After maintaining a distance from the Opposition INDIA bloc so far, Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is now looking to join the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) in Bihar for the state Assembly elections due in October-November this year.
Besides the RJD led by Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, the Opposition Mahagathbandhan comprises the Congress and the Left parties.
The AIMIM leaders in Bihar have been in touch with the RJD leaders. “We are interested in having an alliance with the Mahagathbandhan. We are very positive about forging it. Our ideology is to defeat the BJP and empower Bihar. Our fight with the BJP is same as Congress’s. We want the grand alliance to take AIMIM on board,” AIMIM national spokesperson Adil Hasan told The Indian Express.
Although the AIMIM has planned to contest over 50 Assembly seats out of 243 in the upcoming Bihar polls, the party is flexible in choosing its seats and would be ready to contest fewer seats if the RJD and the Congress agree to accommodate it, party sources said.
The AIMIM seems to be buoyed by its performance in the 2020 state Assembly polls, when it had formed a “third front with the BSP and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP). The AIMIM had then created a flutter by winning five of the 20 seats it contested. The party had garnered 14.28% of the votes polled in these 20 seats. The BSP could win only one seat out of 78 seats it contested, while the RLSP failed to open its account despite contesting 99 seats.
All the five seats that the AIMIM had won fall in the Muslim-dominated Seemanchal region in east Bihar, which encompasses four districts including Araria, Purnea, Katihar and Kishanganj.
“AIMIM has performed well in the past polls. And we have already supported the Opposition alliance on a number of occasions – in the Speaker’s election and on Bills brought by the NDA government,” Hasan said.
In June 2022, however, the AIMIM suffered a blow when four of its five MLAs — Muhammed Izhar Asfi (Kochadamam), Shahnawaz Alam (Jokihat), Syed Ruknuddin (Baisi) and Azhar Nayeemi (Bahadurganj) — defected to the RJD. State AIMIM president Akhtarul Iman is currently the party’s lone MLA (Amour), who has continued to owe allegiance to Owaisi.
On the question of an alliance with the Mahagathbandhan, Iman told The Indian Express: “We have put up a proposal that if you want to weaken the communal forces, then like-minded parties against them should come together. We want our participation. We have presented this proposal before Mahagathbandhan in Bihar. But nothing can be confirmed until things are finalised.”
Hasan admitted that the AIMIM leaders have not held any formal discussion with the RJD and Congress leaders for the alliance so far. “But when these leaders meet in Assembly, they suggest we should contest together. AIMIM too says that we are ready. But RJD will have to take a call on the issue,” Hasan said.
Bihar RJD spokesperson Nawal Kishore, however, claimed that he did not have any information about the AIMIM’s proposal to join the grand alliance. Bihar Congress spokesperson Prem Chandra Mishra also echoed Kishore’s statement, saying he had no such such information.
AIMIM sources said that besides the five seats which it had won in 2020, the party would like to contest from several seats across the regions of Mithilanchal, Champaran, Shahabad, Magadh and Bhagalpur, where it claims to have developed its organisation in the last five years.
In the event of the AIMIM being not inducted into the grand alliance, the party has planned to contest over 50 seats on its own. Hasan said the party has declared two candidates so far — Rana Ranjeet Singh, a Rajput leader, from Dhaka seat in Champaran district in west Bihar and Tausif Alam from Bahadurganj in Seemanchal. Iman may contest from his Amour constituency or any other seat.
“We are trying to forge this alliance. But if does not happen, RJD will be responsible for it. In that situation we will reach out to Muslim organisations of Bihar,” Hasan said.
Owaisi has been leading his party’s bid to make inroads in Bihar, especially the Seemanchal region.
Wary of the AIMIM’s foray into the state, the Mahagathbandhan had earlier called the party the “BJP’s B team”, alleging that it was playing the role of “votekatwa (vote-cutter)” and “spoiler” for the grand alliance — allegations that Owaisi has rejected as baseless.
During his recent visit to Bihar, the AIMIM chief attacked the ruling BJP and JD(U), but even targeted the RJD. However, he remained soft on the Congress.
Addressing a rally in Bahadurganj on May 3, Owaisi slammed four party MLAs who had switched to the RJD, claiming that “4 bhage to 24 aayenge (If four MLAs jumped ship, we will have 24 MLAs this time)” and that his party’s fight for the cause of the backward Seemanchal region will continue. Taking a swipe at the RJD, he claimed the party will have to eventually reach out to the AIMIM MLAs for support.
Addressing a public meeting in Dhaka on May 4, where he spoke at length against the Waqf Amendment Act, Owaisi urged the people to teach a lesson to the NDA as well as the RJD in the upcoming polls.
“Owaisi sahab targeted RJD too because RJD ruled Bihar for a long period but did nothing for its growth, especially in Seemanchal. People were left with no choice but to migrate to other states for jobs,” said an AIMIM leader.
