Patna: Bihar`s Seemanchal region is all set to witness an intense battle in coming assembly election with AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi`s (AIMIM) already ruling out the possibility of joining the INDIA bloc, and Prashant Kishor`s Jan Suraaj Party is also leaving no stone unturned to make a dent into the Muslim vote bank.
About The Seemanchal Region
Seemanchal region comprising districts of Araria, Katihar, Kishanganj, and Purnia has a huge population of Muslims. Kishanganj has the highest Muslim population (68 percent), followed by Katihar (44 percent), Araria (43 per cent) and Purnia (38 percent). The four districts have 24 Assembly seats. The Waqf law and Special Intensive Revision of voter lists are considered as key issues in this region.
While AIMIM had made its presence felt in the last Bihar assembly election by winning five seats in the region, Jan Suraaj Party, making foray into Seemanchal region with full enthusiasm, will make the electoral battle more intense in Seemanchal region. It would be interesting to see how RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav grapples with the challenge in the upcoming assembly election.
AIMIM, which wanted to join the INDIA bloc, has now ruled out the possibility of joining the opposition alliance after the RJD rebuffed the offer. Owaisi had contended that one-sided love was not going to happen. Jan Suraaj Party has announced that it would field 40 Muslim candidates in the state polls. “It will be too early to say how much impact the party will make an impact in Seemanchal region,” remarked a political observer from the region.
While addressing a conference of Muslims in Kishanganj recently, Kishor claimed, “Half of the Hindu population of the country is against BJP, we can defeat Muslims if Muslim society supports us.”
On the other hand, Owaisi has planned to field candidates on 50 seats in Seemanchal, Mithilanchal, Saran and Shahabad regions.
Former professor of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Pushpendra Kumar Singh said, “It is doubtful whether AIMIM will repeat the same performance this time as people have realised that they committed a mistake by casting their votes in its favour when they consider that the grand alliance only fell 12 seats short of the majority in 243-member assembly,” he remarked.
Muslims may have also got annoyed with Owaisi becoming a member of a parliamentary delegation that visited foreign countries post Operation Sindoor, another political analyst remarked.
