Patna: MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) willingness to join the grand alliance before the assembly election seems to run into rough weather as RJD MP Manoj Jha on Friday advised Owaisi and his party that deciding not to contest elections many a time can serve a greater purpose.
Grand alliance presently comprises RJD, Congress, left parties and VIP.
Bihar AIMIM president Akhtarul Iman had written to RJD chief Lalu Prasad, formally requesting his party’s induction into the grand alliance.
In his letter to Lalu, Iman contended that the inclusion of AIMIM in the grand alliance would prevent a split in secular votes”
“This will ensure that the grand alliance forms the next government in the state”, Iman claimed, adding that his party had tried to join the alliance in the last assembly polls too. This time, he (Owaisi) had already expressed his wish to “leaders of the Congress and left parties over the phone,” he added.
RJD MP Jha said, “I will say only one thing, Owaisi`s support base is in Hyderabad. Both Owaisi and his advisors know what happens or does not happen if AIMIM contests election in Bihar. If your intention is to defeat the dictatorial character of the BJP, to defeat their politics of hatred, many a time not contesting elections would be one such decision. I hope he will think about it.”
In the 2020 assembly elections, the AIMIM contested in alliance with BSP, and the now-defunct Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) headed by former union minister Upendra Kushwaha, who is now in the NDA.
The AIMIM had won a total five seats in Muslim-dominated Seemanchal region of Bihar by cutting into the votes of the grand alliance in several constituencies. The RJD-led grand alliance had fallen short of a majority by a dozen seats in the last election. Barring Iman, all the remaining four AIMIM MLAs joined RJD in 2022.
