"Bihar Has 19% Muslims, They Have No Leader": Asaduddin Owaisi Ahead Of Polls

Hours before the Election Commission announces the dates for the Bihar election, AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has made a high-voltage political remark, saying that every community in Bihar has its leader, but Muslims don't.

Reaching out to the minority community in the poll-bound state, Mr Owaisi said, "Yadav, Paswan, Thakur - every community has its own leader, but the 19 per cent Muslims in Bihar have no leader."

According to the findings of the 2022 Bihar caste survey, Muslims account for 17.7 per cent of Bihar's total population of about 13 crore.

Owaisi's AIMIM had pulled off a stunner in the 2020 Bihar polls, winning five seats in the politically sensitive Seemanchal region. Four of the five AIMIM MLAs later switched to RJD.

The AIMIM chief travelled to Bihar last month to campaign for his party. Earlier, he said that he was willing to join the Opposition alliance led by the RJD and the Congress, but did not receive a favourable response. The Opposition bloc, however, has ruled out any tie-up with AIMIM.

In his message to Bihar's Muslims, Owaisi said the country should have at least 50 Muslim Lok Sabha MPs considering their population. "If there were more than 50 Muslim MPs, could PM Modi have brought the Waqf (Amendment) Act?" he asked.

Muslims form a key part of the main opposition RJD's support base, and it has relied on the MY combination (Muslim Yadav) for decades to perform strongly in polls. This explains why Tejaswhi Yadav is not willing to accommodate Owaisi into the Mahagathbandhan, considering this may lead to erosion of its key support base.

Earlier, speaking at a Bihar rally, Owaisi accused Tejashwi Yadav of buying four AIMIM MLAs. "Our state president Akhtarul Iman, whom Tejashwi could not wean away, telephoned me to say that members of our community were upset that Owaisi was not interested in an alliance with the RJD-helmed Mahagathbandhan. I said do as they please," said the firebrand leader.

"In our culture, when the father is alive, we approach him before talking to the son. So Iman wrote a letter to Lalu ji (RJD president) to inform him that the AIMIM was ready for a tie-up. Later, a letter was sent to Tejashwi, too. Now, if they are not responding, what can we do?" said Owaisi.

He claimed that while making the offer for a tie-up, Iman had made it clear that AIMIM wanted no share in the ministry if the Mahagathbandhan formed the next government.

"Our only conditions were six seats, since we had already won five, and a written assurance that a Seemanchal Development Council would be set up. But they were not interested," Owaisi said.