Bihar: Owaisi targets RJD, says AIMIM to contest from four seats in Mithilanchal

Taking aim at Rashtriya Janata Party leader Tejashwi Yadav, Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that his efforts to forge an alliance were rebuffed.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi has announced that his party will contest four assembly seats in Mithilanchal — Darbhanga Town, Jale, Keoti and Bisfi in Madhubani — marking his party’s first major entry into the region after making inroads in Seemanchal during the previous Bihar assembly elections.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi addresses a public meeting. (PTI)

Addressing a public rally at Kumrauli village under Jale assembly constituency on Monday, Owaisi said, “After Seemanchal, AIMIM will now contest four seats in Mithilanchal.”

Taking aim at Rashtriya Janata Party (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, Owaisi alleged that his efforts to forge an alliance were rebuffed. “We tried to bring him on board, but he refused. This arrogance will cost him dearly,” he said, adding, “Your naivety will harm you. Your arrogance will make you weak. We are not afraid of anyone.”

Rejecting the perception that he avoids political dialogue, the AIMIM chief said, “People used to say Owaisi is arrogant and doesn’t want to talk to anyone. But we were ready for dialogue — still, they didn’t want to talk to us.” He asserted that the people of Bihar “now know who truly wants to stop the return of the Modi, Amit Shah and Nitish government — and who actually wants to bring them back.”

Owaisi also targeted Bharatiya Janata Party-led governments, accusing them of discriminating against Muslims for expressing their faith. “In Uttar Pradesh, people are being stopped from saying ‘I love Mohammad’. Posters are being removed from walls. But no one can stop Indian Muslims from expressing love for India and the Prophet,” he said.

The Hyderabad MP emphasized that his visit was not for personal gain or dynastic politics but to represent Bihar’s 19% Muslim population. “We are not from the moon; we are from Hyderabad — and no one can drive us away from Bihar,” he said, adding, “I have not come here to seek your votes and then betray you like those four MLAs who sold their conscience. I have come to choose a leader for that 19% of people who fear neither RJD, nor Modi, nor Nitish.”

In the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, AIMIM had contested 24 seats and won five — two each in Kishanganj and Purnia and one in Araria. However, in June 2022, four of its five MLAs defected to the RJD, leaving only Akhtarul Iman, who remains AIMIM’s state unit president.

Owaisi received an enthusiastic welcome as he travelled through Darbhanga, with supporters showering flowers on his vehicle at several locations. The rally witnessed large crowds, underscoring AIMIM’s renewed bid to expand its political footprint beyond Seemanchal into Mithilanchal.