Seemanchal stays with Owaisi as NDA sweeps past an INDIA bloc nursing familiar wounds

AIMIM has held its ground in Seemanchal, leading in 6 seats, once again denting the INDIA bloc, even as the NDA sweeps the Muslim-dominated region.

File photo of AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi | ANI

New Delhi: Consolidating the gains it had made in the last assembly elections in 2020, Asaduddin Owaisi’s party, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), has won in 4 seats and is leading by a big margin in 1 of the 25 seats (at 6.15 pm) it contested in Bihar. All 5 seats are in the Muslim-dominated Seemanchal region.

Further, in at least three seats in Seemanchal, it has cut into the votebank of the INDIA alliance, which it had offered to be a part of in the run-up to the elections.

Seemanchal includes Kishanganj (68 percent Muslim population), Katihar (45 percent), Araria (43 percent), and Purnia (38 percent). Bihar has a 17 percent Muslim population, a huge part of which is in Seemanchal, which has 24 Assembly seats in all. Even the last time, the AIMIM had won five seats here.

While the Mahagathbandhan is leading in only three seats in Seemanchal (2 Congress, 1 RJD), the NDA has swept the region.

Of the 24 Assembly seats in Seemanchal, BJP is leading in eight, JD(U) is leading in 5 and the LJP is leading in 3 seats, respectively.

Last election, a major reason the Mahagathbandhan fell short of a majority was the spoiler role played by the AIMIM, which contested 19 seats and won five, although four of its MLAs then crossed over to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)—prompting many political observers to suspect that the AIMIM was acting like the “B-team” of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

In the 2020 Assembly election, the BJP bagged eight seats in Seemanchal, its ally JD(U) won four, while the Congress secured five. The CPI(ML) and the RJD managed one seat each. The AIMIM sprang a surprise, winning five constituencies in the region.

The Seemanchal region shares borders with West Bengal and is also close to the international border with Bangladesh, making the BJP’s “ghuspaithiya” (infiltrator) narrative a point of concern for the Muslim population.

This time, in order to dispel perceptions of being the NDA’s “B-team”, the Owaisi-led party had offered to join the Mahagathbandhan—an offer that was not taken up by the opposition alliance.

(Edited by Viny Mishra)