AIMIM To Field 11 Candidates For Lok Sabha Election In Bihar

AIMIM's state unit president Akhtarul Iman said that a list of 11 seats, where the party feels it holds significant strength, has been forwarded to the central election committee for approval.

New Delhi: The Bihar unit of AIMIM, led by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, is in favour of contesting more than a quarter of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats, as stated by a senior party leader on Wednesday.

Addressing reporters in Kishanganj, AIMIM's state unit president Akhtarul Iman said that a list of 11 seats, where the party feels it holds significant strength, has been forwarded to the central election committee for approval, reported news agency PTI.

Iman expressed disappointment over the reluctance of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc to include AIMIM in the anti-BJP coalition, despite their previous collaboration in the 2020 assembly polls where AIMIM contested 20 seats.

"In the 2020 assembly polls in Bihar, the INDIA bloc had contested all the 20 seats where AIMIM had put up its candidates. Our MLAs were weaned away later. Still, we are not holding it against them and have identified only 11 Lok Sabha constituencies, where we have gained ground," he said, as per the [TI report.

Although often labeled as the "B team" of BJP by opposition parties, AIMIM won five seats in assembly polls, yet later lost four MLAs to the RJD. In the past, AIMIM has allied with Mayawati's BSP and Upendra Kushwaha's RLSP, now part of the BJP-led NDA.

Iman, who is now the lone MLA of the AIMIM, said the seats that the Bihar unit has identified include Purnea, Araria, and Katihar, all of which share borders with Kishanganj and have a sizeable Muslim population.

Other seats include Ujiyarpur, represented by Union minister and former state BJP chief Nityanand Rai, Muzaffarpur, and Darbhanga. Besides, the party this time wants to contest four seats in south Bihar: Buxar, Gaya, Karakat, and Bhagalpur, the PTI report added.

Replying to a query, Iman said, "I am making no mention of Kishanganj because our party president has already made it clear that he wants me to contest the seat again. The Congress has been alleging that we want to cut into its votes. We cannot help it."

Responding to another query regarding the candidate's name, Iman said, "The candidates' names will be made public once the party leadership agrees to our proposal to contest the 11 seats. The high command will take a call on whether to go it alone or to forge an alliance with smaller parties."