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Owaisi’s AIMIM suffers huge blow in Bihar, loses 4 of its 5 MLAs to RJD
With four AIMIM legislators crossing over to the RJD, the Bihar AIMIM has only one legislator in the assembly, its president and Amour legislator Akhtarul Iman
PATNA: Four of the five legislators of All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) joined Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Wednesday, delivering a huge blow to the Asaduddin Owaisi-led party which made inroads into Bihar’s Seemanchal region in the 2020 assembly elections.
“The AIMIM MLAs have merged with our party. We are now the largest party in the state assembly,” Tejashwi Yadav told reporters after the four AIMIM legislators joined the RJD and raised its effective strength to 80.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 77 legislators in the 243-seat assembly and its alliance partner, Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) has 45 and Jiten Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) has 4. Wednesday’s switch does not impact the ruling coalition’s numbers but lets the RJD make up for some of the losses suffered in the 2020 assembly elections when the AIMIM gained a firm foothold in the Seemanchal.
The four MLAs - Syed Rukuuddin Ahmed from Baisi, Shahnawaj from Jokihat, Mohammed Anjar Nayami from Bahadurganj and Mohammed IzaharAshwi from Kochadhaman assembly constituency - said their move will help fast track development of the Seemanchal region that comprises Araria, Purnia, Kishanganj and Katihar districts. “We have taken the decision in the interest of development of Seemanchal,” said Shahnawaj.
The move left Owaisi’s AIMIM fuming.
“The RJD claims to protect the interests of minorities and weaker sections. But today, the party has not only betrayed the faith and belief of minorities but also proved that it does not want a strong party to emerge in the state that talks about fighting for Muslims, minorities and scheduled castes,” said Bihar AIMIM president Akhtarul Iman, the party’s fifth and only legislator in the assembly. Imam represents the Amour segment in Purnia in the assembly.
The BJP and HAM(S), both constituents of the ruling NDA, also slammed RJD’s manoeuvre. “The four MLAs of AIMIM have joined hands with a dynastic party known for appeasement politics,” said Nikhil Anand, Bihar BJP’s spokesperson.
HAM(S) state spokesperson Danish Rizwan said it exposed RJD’s double standards. “On one hand, the RJD condemns the split in Shiv Sena while on the other hand, it is creating a split in AIMIM. It shows how it has double standards,” said Rizwan.
A senior RJD functionary said the merger of the AIMIM legislative party will not invoke the anti-defection law was designed to salvage the situation for the party which suffered huge losses in the Seemanchal region due to the AIMIM in 2020. “The fact that AIMIM managed to make inroads in RJD’s Muslim vote base in Kishanaganj and adjoining districts in the last few years has been a point of consternation for the RJD as it has hit its traditional Muslim-Yadav combination (M-Y). This is one reason, why the RJD brought in the AIMIM MLAs to recover lost ground,” the functionary said.
In 2020, Owaisi’s party teamed up with smaller Bihar parties that were part of the Grand Secular Democratic Front (GSDF), a third alternative to the NDA and the Opposition’s Grand Alliance, after its maiden electoral win in Bihar in October 2019 when the party defeated the BJP’s nominee Sweety Singh in a bypoll in Kishanganj.
