All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi on March 18 attacked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and blamed him for making the BJP stronger. The Hyderabad MP made the statement while addressing a public meeting at Bayasi in Purnea district of the Seemanchal region, while on a two day visit to Bihar to launch an Adhikar Yatra in the run-up to next year’s parliamentary polls.
“If the Chief Minister in power says that Majlis-e is the party of Muslims, then Nitish Kumar must remember that when history is written about who helped make the BJP stronger in India, then the name of Nitish Kumar will be mentioned,” Mr. Owaisi said. “When Gujarat was burning, Nitish was the railway minister and he made the BJP stronger. If Akhlaq and Pehlu Khan were murdered, the support of Nitish’s party was also there,” he added.
‘Cheating voters’
Alleging that the Bihar CM could not think above “Kurmi and Kushwaha”, Mr. Owaisi claimed that Mr. Kumar had always cheated the people.
“Nitish can go to BJP anytime and he has done so in the past as well. No one can take his guarantee. Several times, he has gone to the BJP and RJD. Who has coined his name Paltu Ram? I didn’t,” Mr. Owaisi said.
Both the BJP and the ruling Mahagathbandhan alliance had previously launched their election campaigns in this region. The BJP is trying hard to make inroads into Seemanchal, currently the stronghold of the Mahagathbandhan.
Spotlight on Seemanchal
The importance of the region can be understood from the fact that Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched his Lok Sabha campaign in Bihar in September 2022 from Seemanchal and has visited Bihar thrice after the Janata Dal (United) snapped ties with the BJP in August 2022. In response, the Mahagathbandhan, which comprises seven parties, held a rally in Purnea district on February 25 at the Rangbhoomi Maidan, the very same place from where Mr. Shah launched his campaign.
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Mr. Owaisi apologised to the people of the Seemanchal region after four out of five MLAs from his AIMIM party joined the RJD last year. Taking a dig at Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Mr. Owaisi accused him of poaching his MLAs.
‘MLAs poached’
“I have also come here to seek an apology because you trusted our candidates and voted for them but they switched their sides by selling their dignity and self-respect. The RJD, using money power and the support of Nitish Kumar, have taken our MLAs. I have come here to remind myself that I will keep fighting for the rights of Seemanchal and I not going to take my steps back. We will achieve our political goal. People come and go but the journey of AIMIM will continue here,” Mr. Owaisi asserted, adding that he would also visit other districts of Bihar in days to come.
He also pointed out that winning elections is not the only purpose of his party, insisting that overall development is the main agenda of the AIMIM.
Seemanchal, located in north Bihar, comprises four districts: Purnea, Katihar, Kishanganj and Araria. In the 2019 elections, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won three seats and the Congress won one in the region. The Katihar and Purnea parliamentary seats are now with the JD(U), while Araria belongs to the BJP and Kishanganj belongs to the Congress. In the last assembly election, AIMIM won five Assembly seats in the Seemanchal region.
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