The Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) on Sunday announced it would contest 32 seats in the Bihar Assembly elections, a move that can eat into the Opposition Mahagathbandhan’s crucial Muslim vote base.
The announcement coincided with RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s visit to Delhi, accompanied by wife Rabri Devi and son Tejashwi Yadav, to appear before a court in the land-for-jobs scam case. Lalu and Tejashwi are also expected to finalise seat-share talks with the Congress.
AIMIM’s Bihar unit chief Akhtarul Imam told reporters in Kishanganj that the party was “compelled” to go it alone after its request to join the Mahagathbandhan was turned down. He announced the constituencies that the party plans to contest, but refrained from naming the candidates.
“AIMIM Bihar tried to prevent the division of secular votes and unite against communal forces, but the larger coalition partners did not cooperate. This has led to the formation of a third alliance,” Imam said, adding that the party was in talks with smaller outfits to forge a broader front.
The 32 seats, spread across 16 districts, have a significant Muslim electorate. Imam said the party would field candidates from most eastern Bihar districts, including Kishanganj, Araria, Purnea and Katihar, besides a few other constituencies across the state. Muslims make up over 16 per cent of Bihar’s population, with a much higher concentration in about 40 of the 243 Assembly seats.
The AIMIM, seen by many as the BJP’s “B-team”, had damaged the Opposition’s prospects in the previous Assembly polls. Contesting the 2020 elections in alliance with the BSP and the now-defunct RLSP, it won five seats in Muslim-dominated eastern Bihar and contributed to the defeat of the RJD and the Congress in several others by splitting the minority vote.
Four of the five AIMIM MLAs later defected to the RJD, leaving Imam as the party’s lone representative in the Assembly. “This time, the RJD cannot accuse us of splitting secular votes. I had personally written to Lalu and Tejashwi seeking a tie-up, but received no response,” Imam said.
The RJD was hit by fresh turbulence on Sunday, with Lalu’s elder son Tej Pratap unfollowing Tejashwi on X and declaring that he would field candidates in all 243 seats.
Tej Pratap, who was expelled from the party and the family by Lalu, has floated the Janshakti Janata Dal. “I will declare my candidates tomorrow,” he said.