PATNA: After ruling grand alliance and BJP holding public meetings in Seemanchal region of the state, AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi will launch 'Adhikar Padyatra' (Journey on Foot for Rights) in the Muslim dominated region of the state on March 18-19, a move that may leave Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Prasad Yadav alarmed.
Owaisi will launch Padyatra in Purnea and Kishanganj, two major towns of the Seemanchal region on March 18-19, informed state AIMIM president Akhtarul Iman.
Owaisi will visit Baisi-Amaur areas of Purena and some places in Kishanganj district to launch the 'Padyatra' under which leaders will interact with the common people and raise the issue of alleged injustice meted out to Seemanchal region by the successive governments. His presence in Seemanchal region itself
is of great significance as the party`s electoral influence is clearly evident on the ground.
In the 2020 Bihar assembly election, AIMIM had surprised everybody by winning five seats. It is another matter, four AIMIM MLAs had joined RJD before Bihar chief minister and JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar snapped ties with BJP and formed a new government with the grand alliance last August.
In the Gopalganj by-election, AIMIM`s Abdul Salam had bagged 12,212 votes while the RJD candidate was defeated by the BJP nominee by a margin of just 1,794 votes.
Even deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav conceded that the AIMIM candidate had played a role in the defeat of the RJD candidate. He has also dubbed AIMIM as ‘B’ team of BJP.
Seemanchal region of Bihar has four Lok Sabha seats and 24 assembly seats. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Nitish`s JD (U) had won two seats while BJP and Congress had won one seat each.
In the 2020 Bihar assembly election, AIMIM had contested 20 seats in the state and was successful in bagging more than 5.23 lakh votes. On the other hand, BJP had won eight seats, Congress five and JD (U) four seats in the last assembly election. RJD and CPI (ML) had won one seat each.
It is believed that AIMIM had helped BJP in winning two seats by cutting into Muslim votes. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had addressed a rally in Purnea last September while the grand alliance also organised a rally at the same venue in February