In one of the most striking dimensions of the Bihar outcome, Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, originally a small party with roots in the Old City of Hyderabad, has won five seats in the assembly. Mr. Owaisi has been making a concerted effort to expand his party’s base in the Seemanchal region of Bihar, particularly Kishanganj, which has an overwhelming Muslim majority, for more than five years. He won a secondary vote in the region last year, but this time he has become a major force.
Mr. Owaisi is a controversial figure. While he speaks the language of constitutionalism and seeks the rights of Muslims and other marginalized groups, his party has often engaged in extremist rhetoric and even hate speech. But what explains his growing popularity, with his party winning seats in places as varied as Maharashtra and Bihar?
Muslims in India, after the Partition trauma, have been skeptical of identity-only political formations and have reversed their fortunes in secular formations and stuck to the democratic mainstream. But the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has led to further alienation: the inability of the older “secular” parties to fight the BJP and the growing disillusionment with these forces has also led to the search for alternatives. Those who criticize Mr. Owaisi for “cutting” the votes of other opposition parties are doing a disservice to Indian democracy, as it has as much right to participate and compete in elections as any other formation. For his part, Mr. Owaisi must constantly guarantee that his party remains united to the plural, peaceful, democratic constitutional path and does not participate in minority communalism.
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