By Dhruvi Shah
Asaduddin Owaisi, leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) claimed that while the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has ignored the AIMIM in its plans for Bihar within the INDIA bloc, AIMIM attempted to accommodate the party several times.
Owaisi told NDTV that AIMIM had written three letters to RJD, indicating the party’s willingness to run only six seats in the Bihar assembly elections.
“Ours (AIMIM’s Bihar chief) Akhtarul Iman wrote 2 letters to Lalu Yadav and then the third and last he wrote to Tejashwi Yadav, saying that we are ready to take six seats and that you don’t have to give us any ministry when you come to power; just establish a development board for Seemanchal. What are we to do?” Owaisi continued.
In the 2020 Bihar election, AIMIM won five seats in Seemanchal, which was a surprise to many, but four of its MLAs joined the RJD after the election. Owaisi took a shot at the RJD about the situation when it occurred, arguing, “They say we are the (BJP) B-Team, but when they disrobed the AIMIM, it was right.” But when the BJP did it to the Shiv Sena, that was a bad thing.”
AIMIM workers protested outside Lalu Yadav’s house last week, banging drums and giving out posters to push for an alliance. After all this, the bloc is refusing to commit. “There’s anger, there’s respect. And the people of Bihar know that we were accused of being a B-team.
Four days later, we banged drums and gave them our letter. They can’t hear us?” he asked.
The AIMIM leader went on to question the government’s ability to hold the India-Pakistan Asia Cup clash. “The Prime Minister said, ‘Blood and water cannot flow together.’ Can a cricket match happen? What message does this send to Pakistan? Who thinks this is a fool?” he said.