At 33 seats, the LJP was found to get more votes than JD (U) ‘s margin of defeat. Since the LJP ran a number of candidates with BJP backgrounds, this was seen as a way to avoid the transfer of votes from the BJP to its alliance partner, the JD (U).
So has the AIMIM done the same with the Mahagathbandhan?
The assumption is that since AIMIM primarily raises Muslim concerns, it is targeting Muslim votes that have been the vote bank for parties like the RJD and Congress.
This article will attempt to answer this question by examining AIMIM’s performance in the 20 seats it contested and whether it garnered more votes than the Mahagathbandhan’s margin of defeat.
Three types of AIMIM seats
The 20 seats of AIMIM can be divided into three types of seats.
Seats won by AIMIM (5): Amour, Baisi, Kochadhaman, Bahadurganj and Jokihat.
Seats Won by Mahagathbandhan (9): Araria, Kasba, Kishanganj, Manihari, Phulwari, Sahebpur Kamal, Sherghati, Sikta, Thakurganj
Seats won by NDA (6): Barari, Chhatapur, Narpatganj, Pranpur, Raniganj, Sahebganj.
Now the seats won by the Mahagathbandhan or AIMIM itself are constituencies in which the NDA was defeated, so there is no question that AIMIM will help the NDA win here.
So our focus should be on the 6 seats the NDA won. Let’s look at the NDA margin of victory and AIMIM votes.
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