Political equations are changing rapidly before the Bihar assembly elections. Asaduddin Owaisi and his party AIMIM are in discussion in the electoral atmosphere. Owaisi’s party has run a shocking bet just before the election and has offered to include itself in the India block. Opposition parties are also disturbed by this bet of AIMIM.
In fact, there are 6 partners in the Grand Alliance, who were seen together in the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar. These include the names of Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Indian National League, Communist Party of India. However, later Mukesh Sahni’s party VIP also became a part of the Grand Alliance and RJD gave him three seats from his quota.
Now there are assembly elections in the state and there is a long churn on seat sharing. There were four rounds of meetings between the big leaders of India Alasus. It is expected to be churned again after June 5. Meanwhile, Hemant Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Mukesh Sahni’s developing human party and now Owaisi’s AIMIM also wants to be a part of India block and is demanding seat sharing. While AAP has announced to contest elections alone.
Challenge regarding seat sharing in India block …
The question is arising whether the RJD or the Congress high command will make AIMIM a part of the BJP’s B team a part of its grand alliance. Then when seat sharing has created a fierce battle. There are elections in 243 seats in Bihar. Congress is claiming claims on 70, VIP 60, Male 42, CPI 24 seats. That is, demand for 196 seats has come. While RJD itself is churning to contest elections in 138 seats. Similarly, JMM has sought 12-13 seats. Meanwhile, if Pashupati Paras’s RLJP becomes part of the alliance, it may also have to be included in the seat sharing. In such a situation, alliance allies may face a lot of challenges in seat adjust and partition.
‘RJD Chief will take final decision …’
However, Bihar Congress in -charge Krishna Allavaru says that Owaisi has not made any offer to the Congress. Ask them, what they have thought. At the same time, RJD leader Mrityanjay Tiwari said, Owaisi’s track record belongs to BJP’s B team but now that he has expressed his desire to join the Grand Alliance, Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav and other leaders of the Grand Alliance will take its final decision.
Is a letter part of the strategy
At the moment, on the one hand there is a possibility of AIMIM to join the grand alliance, but on the other hand the questions are arising whether Owaisi really wants to be a part of the grand alliance seriously to challenge the NDA or it is just a showy effort to avoid allegations of BJP’s ‘B team’.
Experts say that if Owaisi is unable to be a part of India block, then he will surround the opposition in the election campaign saying that he does not want to defeat the NDA, so AIMIM is not made a part of the grand alliance. Along with this, they can also show a mirror to the opposition by removing the tag of BJP’s B team. At the moment, it is to decide whether Owaisi will be part of their alliance or not?
Owaisi’s party has not been a part of India block in any state so far. If AIMIM is included in the opposition alliance in Bihar, this will be the first time that Owaisi’s party will be a part of the alliance.
What Aimim said …
AIMIM’s Bihar state president Akhtarul Iman wrote a letter to RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav on July 2 and urged that AIMIM be included in the grand alliance to prevent secular votes from being scattered and NDA can be excluded from power.
AIMIM Boli- Come on with you, defeat NDA ‘
In the letter, AIMIM cited the 2020 assembly and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and said, “We had expressed his desire to join the Grand Alliance earlier, but the efforts could not succeed.” Now before the 2025 assembly elections, AIMIM is saying bluntly that if fought unitedly, NDA can be removed from power in Bihar.
The state unit of AIMIM has recently approached some RJD and some Congress MLAs to inform the top level of both parties about Owaisi’s desire to join the grand alliance. However, the decision has not been taken yet. Iman says that RJD-Congress MLAs have told me that my proposal is under consideration and it has not been rejected yet.
AIMIM leader Adil Hasan says that a letter has been sent to RJD President Lalu Yadav on our behalf, in which a desire has been expressed to include AIMIM in the grand alliance.
But the cracks also deepened …
While AIMIM is eager to be a part of the grand alliance, cracks within the alliance are already emerging. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is demanding 12–13 seats and is upset that it has not been called in any meeting yet. Earlier, the Congress has also made it clear that AIMIM has not made any proposal to them.
‘Secular partner’ from NDA’s ‘B team’?
RJD and Congress have been denying NDA’s ‘B team’ till now, but now this offer of Owaisi has changed the atmosphere. However, Akhtarul Iman has clearly stated that if AIMIM is not included in the Grand Alliance, then the RJD should not blame his party for the damage to the RJD in the upcoming elections. Tejashwi Yadav has been alleging that Owaisi is BJP’s ‘B-Team’.
Akhtarul Iman said, “We want to be a part of the grand alliance with full honesty, but I also want to give the message that if there is an electoral loss to the RJD tomorrow, we should not be held responsible for it.”
This statement of Iman is being considered part of the strategy. Actually, AIMIM wants to tell Muslim voters that she wanted to join the coalition, but was sidelined.
Challenge from Seemanchal, expansion in the whole of Bihar?
Earlier, on the visit of Kishanganj in Bihar, Owaisi had said that our party will contest at least 100 seats and aim to win 24 seats. It was said that it was a message for Tejashwi Yadav that AIMIM has the power to harm alone.
Owaisi’s open challenge to Tejashwi Yadav
In the 2020 assembly elections, AIMIM contested 20 seats and won 5 seats. The party got a total of 5,23,279 votes. That is, about 1.24% vote was shared. However, a few months later, four party MLAs broke down and joined the RJD.
Since AIMIM in Bihar is holding the Muslim -dominated areas of Seemanchal and this area was a major reason for the RJD defeat in 2020. Later, four out of five AIMIM MLAs went to RJD, but the ground hold of AIMIM continued in Seemanchal.
What did Owaisi say on the grand alliance …
Meanwhile, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said, “Our state president Akhtarul Iman has spoken to some leaders of the Grand Alliance and he has clearly said that we do not want BJP or NDA to come back to power in Bihar.” Now it is dependent on those political parties who want to stop the NDA from returning to power in Bihar. Five years ago I also tried it personally. However, nothing happened. This time also our state president is trying. But it depends on them. We will also contest elections outside Seemanchal and Seemanchal. If they are not ready then I am ready to contest elections everywhere. Wait for the coming time. It is too early to announce the number of seats.
Need stake, not slavery
Owaisi targeted Tejashwi Yadav and made a sharp statement. He said, there is a difference between stake and slavery. We talk about the stake, we talk about stunning slavery. Now Muslims are not just for laying sheets.
Owaisi’s indication is clear that he does not just want to become a source of vote transfer, but is seeking equal participation in power and policy making.
What a dilemma in front of the grand alliance …
Now the India alliance, especially RJD and Congress, has become a dilemma. If you take AIMIM together, Muslim votes can get a strong hold, but the possibility of seats will increase and ‘fanatical’ tag. If you do not take it, then the division of votes in Seemanchal cannot be denied. This can give NDA indirect benefit.
Then AIMIM will spoil the game in Seemanchal?
Muslim vote banks are considered very decisive in Bihar politics. This is the reason that Tejashwi Yadav has recently come out openly in protest against the Waqf law. The question is whether Owaisi will also get a place in this equation? At the moment, Owaisi’s party has now put the ball in the gathering of the Grand Alliance.
In the 2020 assembly elections, AIMIM contested 20 seats and won 5 seats. These seats included Amour, Bahadurganj, Baisi, Jokihat, Kochadhaman. AIMIM had a 1.30 percent vote share. That is, 5,23,279 votes were obtained. Talking about the 2024 general election, AIMIM fielded candidates for 8 seats and secured 3,82,660 votes. The vote share was 0.9%.
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