We have always opposed the BJP, we continue to oppose the BJP. There can be no compromise with BJP
President of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Asaduddin Owaisi says the people of Bihar need an alternative, explaining the reasons for allying with Samajwadi Janata Dal (Democratic), the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party of Upendra Kushwaha and the Bahujan Samaj Party. AIMIM is contesting 18 seats in the 243-member Assembly.
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What is AIMIM’s vision for Bihar?
We started our political journey five years ago. When we disputed six seats in the Assembly, we lost the deposit in five of them. We have always been demanding justice for the most backward region of our country, the Seemanchal region. It must be granted a special status. Bihar now requires an alternative political voice that is different from the JD (U) -BJP-RJD-Congress combination. Because 15 years of Nitish Kumar or 15 years of RJD nothing has happened in terms of actual development. In all parameters, Bihar still lags behind the rest of the country. During the COVID crisis, the highest unemployment rate of nearly 46% was recorded in Bihar compared to the national average of 26%.
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What was the compulsion to compete with such a disparate group of parties, such as BSP, which has taken a different stance from yours on all critical issues, or Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP, which belatedly decided to exit the mahagatbandhan?
Initially we began our journey alone. Then we made an alliance with Mr. Devendra Prasad Yadav’s Samajwadi Janata Party. Later there was much discussion to be part of a larger alliance, so that a consolidated fight can be given to RJD and Nitish Kumar. As for Mr. Kushwaha, no questions were asked until he was with RJD or BJP. Questions arise only when someone joins us. The meeting point for all of us is to form an alternative political platform.
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You are always known as a ‘nuisance factor’ of Indian politics, be it in Maharashtra, now in Bihar and at some point you will also be participating in the West Bengal elections …
Well if I am a nuisance to Congress, BJP, RJD and JD (U), that means I am doing something good. All these nomenclatures – vote Katua or hassle, I don’t care. It just shows that we are getting stronger on the ground. In the last assembly elections, the Mahagatbandhan opposed a single issue, that is, “We will stop the BJP.” Nitish Kumar had gone so far as to say that he would work for ‘Sangh-mukt Bharat’. Lalu Prasad said ‘we will stop Mohan Bhagwat (Head of RSS)’. All these three parties are the culprits that the BJP is today in power in the State. The responsibility for deceiving and lying to the people of Bihar rests with them.
Why should Muslims in Bihari vote for you instead of RJD, Congress or JD (U) who are already an established political force in the state?
We are not an exclusive Muslim party. I, Asaddudin Owaisi, am not a Muslim leader. I don’t want to be a Muslim leader; That is not my ambition or the goal of my political journey. Bihar voters should cast their vote in our favor because the RJD and Congress have completely failed to stop the BJP giant. Five years ago they took their vote and now the BJP is back in power. They could not resist during the parliamentary elections in Bihar and thanks to them the NDA won 39 seats in Parliament. And another example of why AIMIM should vote is the Kisanganj parliamentary seat. Our candidate Akhtrul Iman got 3 lakhs of votes, JD (U) got 3.25 lakhs of votes and the current congressional deputy got 3.5 lakhs of votes. If we hadn’t disputed, even that seat would have been lost.
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People have seen this game of so-called secular parties, who are interested in taking your vote, they don’t have enough vote to stop or defeat the BJP. What happened to the RJD in the Lok Sabha elections, how come even the members of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family lost the parliamentary elections?
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So your only electoral promise is to stop the BJP?
We have always opposed the BJP, we continue to oppose the BJP. There can be no compromise with BJP.
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