AIMIM MLAs' meeting with Nitish Kumar sparks speculations of defection

The AIMIM has 5 MLAs in the Bihar Assembly Most of them are from the Seemanchal region

A meeting of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar with all the five MLAs of Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM and by the lone LJP MLA Raj Kumar Singh on Thursday has sparked speculations about possibility of their joining the JD (U).

Bihar Cheif Minister Nitish Kumar visits 'Venuvan', at Rajgir in Nalanda on Tuesday. (ANI Photo)

The meeting with AIMIM MLAs, which took place in presence of water resources minister Vijay Kumar Chowdhary, lasted more than 30 minutes.

“It was a normal courtesy call. They came with the problem of Seemanchal. Nothing more transpired other than the development issues of the Seemanchal,” said Vijay Chowdhary, while denying rumors of their joining the party.

AIMIM MLA from Jokihat and late Md Taslimuddin’s son, Shahnawaz Alam, also ruled out changing sides.

“There is no plan to change sides. We handed over a letter underlining the development initiatives needed for the region. No political discussion took place,” he said.

The AIMIM, which contested polls in alliance with the BSP and Upendra Kushwaha-led RLSP, won on five assembly seats, mostly in the Seemanchal region.

A few days back, Singh had visited to state education minister Ashok Choudhary’s home during a book launch event, raising many eyebrows.

Singh had won the seat by defeating JD (U) MLA Narendra Kumar Singh by a slender margin of less than 100 votes.

“It was purely a visit to discuss development related works in my region. He is the CM of the state and we need to take up things with him. It was an unofficial visit, and no political meaning should be construed out of it,” Singh told a channel.

A JD (U) party official, however, said that the ground has been prepared for their defection to JD (U) and “this is one reason why cabinet expansion is getting delayed. Development issues are just an alibi.”

JD (U) sources said that if Singh joins Nitish Kumar's party, it would be a big setback for Chirag Paswan’s LJP, which not only contested the assembly polls independently but harmed the prospects of the JD (U) on many seats.

Only recently, the lone BSP MLA Jama Khan has joined the JD (U).

The JD (U) has 43 members in the present as against 74 of alliance partner BJP.