When the dust from the 2025 Bihar election settles, one of the opposition parties that may end up with a great showing is AIMIM.
The party had pulled off a stunner last time, winning five seats, all of them in the Seemanchal region of the state. And it looks set to repeat that feat.
Comprising four districts - Araria, Katihar, Kishanganj and Purnea - the region has 24 Assembly seats and a large portion of the state's Muslim population. The AIMIM was, thus, pinning its hopes on this region to stay relevant in the state. As things stand at 12.15 pm on Friday, the party is leading in five seats, while the Mahagathbandhan has come down from seven to three.
The seats in which the AIMIM is leading are Kochadhaman in Kishanganj district, Amour and Baisi in Purnea, Jokihat in Araria - all of which are constituencies it had won in 2020 - and Thakurganj in Kishanganj district.
Four of Asaduddin Owaisi's MLAs had defected to the RJD after the elections, and only the winner from Amour, Akhtarul Iman, had remained with the party. Iman is currently leading from his seat.
In 2020, the NDA had won 12 seats from the region and the Mahagathbandhan (MGB) seven and, as things stand, Seemanchal has also gone the way of the rest of Bihar. The NDA is currently leading in 16 constituencies while the MGB is ahead only in three.
The BJP, which had won eight seats last time, is ahead in eight currently, and the JDU's tally appears set to rise from four to five.
The RJD leads in one seat, the same as 2020, the Congress is down from five to two, and the CPI(ML) is down from one to zero.
