AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi
Credit: PTI File Photo
Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s party, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), has put up 24 candidates in Bihar. In the last elections, the AIMIM won five seats and damaged the prospects of the Congress and the RJD in several other seats.
DH caught up with Owaisi and asked whether its entry in Bihar helps the BJP at the cost of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc. Owaisi also spoke about his plans for the next Assembly polls in Karnataka.
How has the journey been since you first contested in Bihar in 2015?
This is our third election. This area has been very beneficial, and the people have blessed us. We won a byelection from Kishanganj in 2019 and then five seats in 2020. In the last Lok Sabha polls, we got over two lakh votes.
One question everyone asks is: why would a party based in Hyderabad come here to contest?
This is one of the most backward regions in the country. Many delegations from here have visited Hyderabad, and we have a huge migrant population from Bihar in the city. They were quite fed up with the RJD and Nitish Kumar, but didn’t have any option. So, we thought we must go there and see what we could do. Over the last 20 years, it’s been like a musical chair — Nitish as the CM, RJD joins in, then exits, BJP comes in. In politics, people should have options.
It is alleged that your entry into these areas is primarily to damage the I.N.D.I.A. bloc and indirectly help the BJP.
The allegation is completely wrong. In 2020, we won five seats. Of the remaining 14 that we contested, nine seats were won by the Gathbandhan.
It was a very close election, with a difference of only 12,000 votes between the two alliances.
You must have competition in politics. Why do parties wrongly assume they can hijack voters or their thinking power? We are here to break the status quo. Yes, the political equilibrium must be disturbed so that democracy is strengthened. Why did the BJP win so many Lok Sabha seats despite us contesting only Kishanganj in 2019 and 2024?
One of the arguments is that even if you contest less number of seats, your presence creates counter-polarisation in the contiguous areas, which tends to help the BJP.
That in itself shows they are unwilling to correct their mistakes. It also shows that they don’t want to be challenged. Let’s assume, for a moment, that what they are saying is right. This election, our State president wrote to all parties within the I.N.D.I.A. bloc in Bihar, expressing our willingness to work with them. He wrote to Tejashwi Yadav, asking for six seats. They don’t accept that.
And lastly, why did they take my four MLAs? When the BJP did the same thing in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, they said democracy is being murdered. But if you do the same, is it suddenly a Gandhian form of politics?
The so-called secular parties are happy to have Yadav, forward caste and EBC leadership, but they do not want one comprising the largest caste in Bihar, that is, 18% Muslims. If a Mallah’s son can become Deputy CM, why can’t Mohammad’s son? Are we here only to lay mats and carpets?
Will you be contesting the next Karnataka Assembly polls?
We contested only three seats last time. Our people are working hard in some places in Karnataka — not in Bengaluru city, but in other places — and the organisation is getting strengthened. So yes, why not? We will look into it when the time comes.