Page 20 - 30NOV2019E

The entry of AIMIM politics
into the electoral fray
of Hindi heartland
signifies a change in
AIMIM aims to make aide of the Hyderabad MP, Owaisi had pattern of the Muslim Asaduddin Owaisi has not just exten-
the voting
sively talked about Muslims but has also
his eyes on Seemanchal ever since the
given them a democratic framework
plan to make inroads in north India was
to talk about community issues, under-
decided after 2014 Lok Sabha election.
community and also
inroads into North India A time frame that drastically saw rise in comes as an indication lining constitutionalism as a principle.
Owaisi’s popularity.
In these circumstances, it is natural for
“To make inroads in North India, the
Muslims to move towards Owaisi’s party.”
party was looking for a region to consoli-
date its presence. There could be non bet- of changing political Ovais told Tehelka.
patterns
“It is not just Muslims, but also peo-
ter than Seemanchal as it was not only ple from other minorities like Christian
uring the Bihar Assembly The win in Kishanganj constituent assembly has boosted densely populated by Muslims but also and Sikh community who also believe
Election in 2015, Asaduddin the most backward region in the coun- scale disasters in the region. Ironically, that Owaisi can emerge as their leader
Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e- confidence in Asaduddin Owaisi and AIMIM. The party is all try. This is when a unit was set up there the government of Bihar and India cites against the rising phenomenon of Hin-
Ittehadul Muslimeen em- set to make in-roads into North India with Seemanchal as its base, and faces were identified to work with Seemanchal’s deplorable condition to get dutva in India,” added Ovais.
D barked on a journey to enter the outfit there,” said the insider. funds from many international aid agen- However, Arshad Alam, former asso-
the electoral fray in Bihar with a decision writes asad ashraf Interestingly, in the past few years, cies and yet spend nothing for the wel- ciate professor of Sociology at JNU, based
to contest 6 seats in the state. fare of people here. A branch of Aligarh in Delhi believes that the chances of
Interestingly, all the seats where the Bihar as they prepared to fight another Muslim University that was set up here Owaisi’s party expanding its footprint in
party contested from formed parts of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the remains ignored. And yet you expect other parts of North India don’t look like
the Seemanchal region. This region, AIMIM president replied, “I am walking people to vote in favor of Congress and a reality shortly unless it forms a larger
close to Nepal & Bengal borders, has in the footpath of Dalit icon Kanshiram, BJP here. The harsh truth is that both the social alliance.
four districts, Katihar, Purnea, Araria, who is also often attributed for saying political outfits have ignored this region “It would be too early to say that
and Kishanganj with a substantial Mus- this. ‘The first election is meant to be lost, completely and left it in an era of dark- AIMIM will expand its base in other
lim population. Critics, then, not just saw second is to get noticed and the third is ness. Congress believes that Muslims/Sc/ parts of north India just because it has
Owaisi as an underdog but also accused to win.’” Even though AIMIM was by no St have no other choice other than voting been able to win the Kishanganj assem-
him of being a B -team of BJP who had means a new political party, it’s newly for them while for BJP these communi- bly which is a Muslim majority seat. To
marked his presence in Bihar to damage found ambitions to represent Muslims ties are untouchables as they do not form expand its base, Owaisi will have to work
the prospects of UPAs ‘secular’ alliance pan India and form a new social base in a part of their voter base,” says Aadil. more towards forming a new social
against NDA. alignment with Dalit’s were certainly just alliance with other marginalised com-
Responding to this question of be- out of the oven. his discourse that secular outfits munities. Until that happens, it wouldn’t
ing the BJPs B team, Aadil Hasan Aazad, Four years later, when the by-election have taken Muslims for granted, be wrong to see the outfit’s victory in
now a youth president of Bihar AIMIM, results for Kishanganj seat in Bihar was T paints Owaisi’s model of politics isolation on a Muslim majority seat,”
who had then quit Lok Janshti Party declared, AIMIM Qamrul Hoda emerged as self-representation by some Muslims. Arshad explains.
to join Owaisi assertively told this cor- as a winner defeating his rival candidate Adnan Farooqui and Rochana Bajpai in Meanwhile Owaisi, detractors contin-
respondent, “Anyone who opposes the Sweety Singh from BJP. Congress in its an academic paper, titled, Non-extrem- ue to rule this out as a phenomenon that
pseudo-secularism of Congress and its stronghold finished third. This sweet lit- ist Outbidding: Muslim Leadership in there might me various local reasons for
allies becomes a B-team of BJP. Congress tle victory for the party came indeed af- Majoritarian India, the duo wrote, “Owai- AIMIM’s victory in Kishanganj assembly
and its cronies including Rashtriya Janta ter two consecutive losses. Once in 2015 si’s exhortations … has an anti-paternalist seat including candidate’s popularity.
Dal have tried to monopolise the idea of Assembly Elections and then 2019 Lok thrust similar to arguments associated “We refuse to believe in this binary
secularism in words, whereas in practice Sabha elections. This victory resonates with the emergence of lower caste politi- that Muslims are going towards Owaisi
they don’t care about any participation of with Owaisi quoting Kashiram to this in the voting pattern of the Muslim com- Asaduddin Owaisi has made consistent cal parties in the 1980s-1990s.” and that it will have an impact on the
minorities in socio-economic and politi- correspondent. munity and also comes as an indication reference to Seemanchal in the parlia- Ovais Sultan Khan , a human rights prospects of secular outfits like us. RJD
cal life in the country.” However, what came as a more pleas- of changing political patterns. In Bihar, ment and has also introduced a private activist, believes that increasing invis- has for long been an un compromised
However, when the results were de- ant surprise for the party was its per- former chief minister and Dalit leader, member bill for special status to the ibility of Muslims from public life, almost outfit on secular causes and anyone who
clared, AIMIM, indeed looked like an un- formance in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh. Jitan Ram Manjhi has already termed this region. deserted by so-called secular parties, believes in the idea of common existence
derdog. The party not only failed to open Here, AIMIM was making an electoral victory as an indication of a strengthen- Aadil Hasan Aazad, the youth presi- Muslims have been compelled to move continues to support us. AIMIMs victory
its account but also lost deposit on two debut. Yet, its candidate, Israr Ahmad ing Muslim – Dalit alliance. dent of the party’s Bihar wing believes towards AIMIM. can be attributed to local factors and not
seats. Its state president Akhtarul Imam bagged 20,269 votes. The party secured It is also pertinent to note that AIMIM that this victory in Kishanganj is people’s “Post 2014, we have seen an interest- an ideological shift in Muslim votes,” said
was defeated by the Congress candidate around 3,000 votes less than Samajwadi selection of Seemanchal as a region to rejection of being taken for granted by ing phenomenon, most of the so-called Naval Kishore, Spokesperson of RJD who
in Kochadhaman. Congress again defeat- Party, which took the second spot behind lay its foot is well calculated and can be called secular outfits on one hand and secular outfits have deserted the Mus- also teaches at Delhi University.
ed the AIMIM candidate in Kashinganj. the winner Apna Dal, a BJP ally. In Ma- seen as a ground for political experi- BJPs communalism on the other. lim community. This phenomenon also It will be interesting to see whether
Aadil was defeated in Balrampur by a CPI harashtra, the party managed to win two ments to strengthen its cause in North “Seemanchal is the most backward extends to the civil society where people AIMIM works gets noticed in other parts
(ML) candidate. seats with a total vote share better than India. In this region, Muslims and SC/ST region of the country, it lags much behind do talk about violations of human rights of North India with Seemanchal as its
Two years later, in 2017, when this what it got in the 2014 state election. form a majority with a total population of with other areas in terms of all develop- but refrain from using the word Muslim. base.
correspondent asked Asaduddin Owaisi The entry of AIMIM into the electoral almost 65 per cent. ment and poverty indicators. It is prone This has caused a sense of existential
about his party’s dismal performance in fray of Hindi heartland signifies a change According to a party insider and close to flood every year, which leads to large crisis among the Muslim community. letters@tehelka.com

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