PATNA: The meeting of five AIMIM legislators with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday has sparked speculation in the political corridors. The MLAs of AIMIM also reiterated to offer support to Nitish Kumar if the latter walks out from alliance with BJP.
A photo session of AIMIM's Bihar MLAs with CM Nitish Kumar in the CM residence was also held.
It has set off theories whether JDU is working on a masterstroke to induct these entire minority MLAs into the party in a move to consolidate its position in the Seemanchal areas.
The meeting comes in the wake of the return of BJP's senior Muslim face Shahnawaz Hussain through state legislative council election unopposed is also being considered more important.
However, the state chief of AIMIM Akhtarul Iman denied that the meeting was aimed at any kind of political move.
Youth president of AIMIM Adil Hassan told this newspaper that the meeting was basically aimed at the issues of development of Seemanchal, which is facing a perennial problem of flood but the AIMIM legislators again offered the party support of Nitish Kumar walks out from the alliance with BJP.
He added that a special package for the Seemanchal part of state was also demanded by the AIMIM leaders. Meanwhile, the AIMIM also through its official Twitter handle claimed that its MLAs met CM Nitish Kumar over Seemanchal development issues.
But observers of Bihar politics said that the growing prominence of Shahnawaz Hussain in BJP eyeing at Seemanchal minority-dominated areas, may get a masterstroke counter on the part of ruling JDU.
"You see the picture, the AIMIM's MLAs had with CM Nitish Kumar after meeting and you will read the meaning of meeting. Had they met simply over the development issues of Seemanchal, they wouldn't have had a photo session in such a way," said a political analyst, Pawan Kumar,
who closely watches the politics of NDA for a long time.
The AIMIM has won the Seemanchal's Kochadham, Jokihat, Baisi, Amour, and Bahadurganj seats. The JDU and all other parties, which have not got an adequate majority, are trying to lure the MLAs of other parties. Recently BSP's single MLA from Chainpur seat in Kaimur Jaman Khan had joined the JDU soon after Shahnawaz Hussain was declared unopposed.
Meanwhile, some sources of JDU denied speaking anything on the meeting of AIMIM's MLAs except that politics thrives on the possibility.