Asaduddin Owaisi, who is considered the face of Muslim politics, has changed his political tactics this time in the election field of Bihar. Owaisi’s first attempt was to contest the elections by joining the opposition grand alliance, but after the refusal of RJD and Congress, AIMIM decided to try its luck first alone and then with smaller parties.
AIMIM has fielded its candidates on 25 seats for Bihar Assembly elections. This time, not only Seemanchal, but also the candidates have been fielded on the seats of North and South Bihar. Owaisi has fielded Hindu candidates along with Muslims. In this way, Owaisi came out with a changed political attitude, will AIMIM be able to repeat the charisma of 2020?
Asaduddin Owaisi While releasing the list of its candidates, it had said that the Bihar unit of AIMIM has released the list of candidates after consulting the national leadership. We will become the voice of justice for the weakest and most neglected people of Bihar.
List of 25 candidates of Owaisi
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grand alliance After the refusal, AIMIM had announced to contest elections on 100 seats, but could field candidates only on 25 seats. Along with giving ticket to its sitting MLA Akhtarul Iman from Amour, AIMIM has made former MP Munjir Hasan its candidate from Munger. Apart from this, four-time former MLA Tausif Alam has been made the candidate from Bahadurganj seat. This time Asaduddin Owaisi has given 23 Muslim candidates and two Hindu candidates among his 25 candidates.
Owaisi’s changed politics
The way Owaisi has given Hindu candidates along with Muslims in Bihar, it shows his changed political stance. Rana Ranjit Singh, son of former MP Sitaram Singh, has been given ticket from Dhaka seat, while Manoj Kumar Das has been made the candidate from Sikandra seat. Rana Ranjit Singh is from Rajput community while Manoj Kumar is from Dalit community.
In 2020, Owaisi did not field candidates from Dhaka and Sikandra because his alliance partner Upendra Kushwaha-led Rashtriya Lok Samata Party had fielded candidates on both these seats. The Dhaka seat was won by the BJP, while the Sikandra seat was won by its NDA ally Jitan Ram Manjhi’s party. This time Owaisi has made a move to win the political game by fielding Hindu candidates on both the seats.
Looking for land outside Seemanchal
Asaduddin Owaisi had last contested elections on 19 seats in Seemanchal area, out of which he was successful in winning five seats. However, later four of their MLAs left AIMIM and joined RJD. Now Owaisi has decided to contest elections on the seats of Kishanganj, Purnia, Araria and Katihar districts of Seemanchal and also on the seats of North and South Bihar. This shows his intention to expand the party.
Owaisi has fielded his candidates from Darbhanga, Siwan, Munger and Bhagalpur areas of Bihar. Owaisi has fielded candidates on Narkatia, Gopalganj, Jokihat, Thakurganj, Kishanganj, Baisi, Sherghati, Nathnagar, Siwan, Kevati, Jale, Nawada, Madhubani, Darbhanga Rural, Gaurabauram, Kasba, Araria, Bafri and Kochadhaman seats.
Owaisi’s new alliance in Bihar
After dashing his hopes of joining the grand alliance, Asaduddin Owaisi decided to contest the elections in alliance with Chandrashekhar Azad’s Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) and Swami Prasad Maurya’s own Janata Party (AJP). In this, it was decided that AIMIM would contest elections on 35 seats, while Chandrashekhar Azad’s party would contest elections on 25 seats and Swami Prasad’s party would contest elections on four seats. Even after this, Owaisi has been able to field his candidates on only 25 seats, but like last time, neither Owaisi himself is active nor his team is visible in Bihar.
Will AIMIM be able to win seats like 2020?
Bihar elections are quite different this time. Bihar elections are being narrowed between NDA and India Bloc, due to which the political path of AIMIM is looking very difficult. The core vote bank of RJD and Congress in Bihar is Muslim and Owaisi’s eyes are also fixed on Muslims.
RJD’s entire effort is to keep Muslim votes tied with itself, for which Tejashwi Yadav is busy wooing even Pasmanda Muslims to oppose the Waqf law. Apart from this, Rahul Gandhi has been seen mobilizing Muslims in his favor by taking out ‘Vote Adhikar Yatra’ on the issue of CAA-NRC.
According to political analysts, Asaduddin Owaisi does not have any ground base in Bihar, rather he has only a few seats in the Seemanchal area. After Rahul Gandhi’s Vote Adhikar Yatra, the atmosphere in Seemanchal has turned in favor of India Block.
In a direct fight between Grand Alliance vs NDA, Muslims will be inclined towards Grand Alliance. This time’s election is quite different. In such a situation, Owaisi’s party seems to be losing its political hopes, due to which his party is restless.
Wherever Owaisi has made his political place outside Hyderabad, he has not won on the basis of his own politics but with the help of some party or the other. In 2020, AIMIM had won five seats in Bihar by forming an alliance with Upendra Kushwaha and BSP and had won in Maharashtra by forming an alliance with Prakash Ambedkar. In such a situation, in Bihar, Owaisi has contested the elections along with Chandrashekhar Azad and Swami Prasad Maurya, but both the allies have no influence in the politics of Bihar.
Is the political game of Seemanchal changing?
Seemanchal area of Bihar is adjacent to Assam and West Bengal. Due to its Muslim majority, Owaisi made this Seemanchal area in Bihar the laboratory of his politics, because the Muslim population here is 40 to 70 percent. In the 2020 elections, BJP emerged as the largest party in Seemanchal due to Asaduddin Owaisi’s party AIMIM.
Owaisi had spoiled the game of Congress and RJD in 2020 on the basis of Muslim votes, due to which BJP got unexpected benefit. The way Owaisi had focused on Seemanchal in 2020, his activism is not visible this time.
In 2020, the Muslim community voted for him with great expectations, but saw that BJP got political benefits from it. Due to this, later four MLAs who won from AIMIM joined RJD.
Are Muslims becoming disillusioned with AIMIM?
Bihar elections are being narrowed between NDA and India Block, due to which Asaduddin Owaisi’s politics seems to be very difficult. Owaisi is not seen in the election field like in 2020. Not only this, there is clearly visible resentment among the people against the state president Akhtarul Iman and his close ones, from selling tickets to running the party like a dictatorship.
Akhtarul Iman has been commanding AIMIM in Bihar since 2015, about which questions are also being raised continuously. Due to the attitude of Akhtarul Iman, 4 RJD MLAs left the party and this time too questions have been raised on ticket distribution. Its effect is visible not only in Akhtarul Iman’s seat but also in the entire area of Seemanchal.
The Muslim community has also sided with Owaisi, due to which it seems very difficult for the Muslims to lean in favor of AIMIM. Due to this, it is believed that it is not easy to repeat results like 2020.
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