Asaduddin Owaisi slammed Tejashwi Yadav Sunday after he reportedly called him an 'extremist', accusing the RJD leader of having "taken this word from Pakistan" and also sarcastically asking him, "babu, 'extremist' ko tum zara angrezi mein likh le… ('can you write 'extremist' in English')?"
At a campaign rally in Bihar's Kishanganj - which votes next week - the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief thundered, "… an interviewer asked Tejashwi Yadav why he didn't align with Owaisi (after the AIMIM reached out for a seat-share deal for the 2025 election). Tejashwi said 'Owaisi is an extremist… a fanatic… a terrorist'. He calls me an 'extremist' because I follow my religion with pride."
"The one who does not bow down in front of you… the one who does not beg… the one who is not afraid of your father (i.e., Lalu Prasad Yadav) … you call him a coward? A beard on my face and a cap on my head… that makes me an extremist? So much hatred in you," Owaisi raged.
His party later shared on X an audio clip it said was from Yadav's interview and Owaisi's fierce response, which included the AIMIM leader declaring, "Tejashwi is speaking the language of Pakistan".
"Tejashwi Yadav called him (Owaisi) an extremist upon seeing the cap on his head and the beard on his face; this is an insult to the entire people of Seemanchal..." the AIMIM tweet said.
The snapbacks follow failed seat-share talks between Owaisi's AIMIM and the Mahagathbandhan, the opposition bloc led by Yadav and his Rashtriya Janata Dal.
The AIMM reportedly wanted to contest six seats, but the offer found no takers.
A spurned AIMIM then announced plans to contest 100 of Bihar's 243 seats on its own.
Owaisi said his party will be the 'third front' in a state where, for years, voters' choices had been restricted to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United and its on-again, off-again ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party, or the Congress-RJD partnership.
"It is now common knowledge… I wrote to (RJD founder and patriarch) Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav, expressing willingness for a tie-up. But no response came…" Owaisi said.
"Now, we must do all that we can to expand our footprints. Yes, we are also in talks with like-minded parties to explore the possibility of a third front. It will all be clear soon…"
The AIMIM's Bihar unit chief, Akhtarul Iman, said, "Both the NDA (the BJP-led alliance and the Mahagathbandhan (the INDIA bloc in Bihar) will be forced to realise our presence."
READ | No Response From India Bloc, Owaisi Begins Solo Bihar Campaign
The AIMIM contested the 2020 election with Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party and Upendra Kushwaha's now-abolished Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, which later re-emerged as the Rashtriya Lok Morcha and is now part of the National Democratic Alliance.
In that election, the AIMIM contested 20 seats and won five, all in the Seemanchal region which has a sizeable Muslim population, and includes the Purnea, Katihar, Kishanganj, and Araria districts. However, four of those five MLAs later switched to the RJD. The fifth died.
Poll analysts believe the AIMIM sees a catchment area in parts like Seemanchal, where large populations of Muslims still lack proportionate representation in the state government.
Earlier this month, hours before the Election Commission announced poll dates, he pointed out every community in Bihar had a leader, except for the Muslims. "Yadav, Paswan, Thakur - every community has its own leader, but the 19 per cent Muslims in Bihar have no leader."
READ | "Bihar Has 19% Muslims, They Have No Leader": Owaisi Ahead Of Polls
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.
Muslims form a key part of the RJD's support base; it has relied on the 'MY' formula (i.e., Muslim + Yadav) in polls for decades, and that could explain why Yadav was unwilling to accommodate Owaisi.
Doing so might compromise his party's votes and that, potentially, poorer return of seats could weaken his position as the bloc's presumptive chief minister.
Sources also said the RJD was worried about the BJP spinning a 'Hindu vs Muslim' narrative.
Meanwhile, Owaisi also raised questions about the opposition not (yet) naming a Muslim Deputy Chief Minister. The Mahagathbandhan has named Vikassheel Insaan Party leader Mukesh Sahani as one deputy – after he arm-twisted the bloc – and said more would follow.
NDTV Explains | On Bihar Opposition's Deputy Chief Minister Pick, A Muslim Question
Owaisi's sharp comments on these issues suggest he is carving out a niche for himself among Muslim voters, something that could affect both Tejashwi Yadav and Nitish Kumar.
Yadav, though, is holding firm for now, aware that the AIMIM's 'victory' in 2020 was illusionary, given four of those five MLAs joined his party anyway. He will also be aware the party failed to make waves outside Muslim-dominated regions. The idea, therefore, is that while the AIMIM is a force in certain regions, it does not pose an existential threat to the Mahagathbandhan.
The Bihar Assembly election 2025 begins this week; the first phase of voting is on Thursday, followed by the second and final on November 11, with results due November 14.
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