AIMIM prepares for larger role in Bihar Assembly elections

Hyderabad: The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is gearing up to play a more significant role in the Bihar Assembly elections scheduled for later this year.

On Saturday, AIMIM chief and MP Asaduddin Owaisi addressed a rally in Bahadurganj, Bihar, urging voters to support his party in the upcoming polls. Owaisi remarked, “You (voters) can take money from other parties but vote for AIMIM.”

He also dismissed opposition claims that AIMIM is the “B-team of the BJP,” retorting, “It was the B-team that tore the Waqf Amendment Act in front of PM Modi. You were the A-team, yet you did nothing—you spoke for just three minutes and sat down,” as reported by news agency ANI.

A day earlier, in Hyderabad, Owaisi had stated that the people of Bihar would teach a lesson to the political party that “stole” his legislators.

In the 2020 Assembly elections, AIMIM won five out of the 20 seats it contested—Amour, Kochadhaman, Jokihat, Baisi, and Bahadurganj. However, four of the five winning MLAs later defected to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

The party faced another setback in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, failing to secure any of the eight seats it contested in Bihar.

Party sources revealed that AIMIM is now carefully identifying and selecting suitable candidates, having learned from the bitter experience of four MLAs defecting to the RJD in 2020 after winning on AIMIM tickets.

The party sees the Seemanchal region as a key battleground in Bihar. In the 2020 Assembly elections, it fielded 20 candidates, 14 of whom were from the Muslim-dominated Seemanchal region.

Comprising the districts of Purnia, Katihar, Araria, and Kishanganj, Seemanchal has a significant Muslim population that has traditionally supported the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress.

AIMIM first contested the Bihar Assembly elections in 2015, fielding candidates in six Seemanchal seats but without notable success. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the party contested a few seats, with its candidates finishing as runners-up or close contenders in some constituencies.

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