A pamphlet of Muslim forum begins with “Kahin Bihar UP ki tarah na ho jaaye”, cautioning people against letting Bihar “go the UP way”
Muslims and Yadavs are considered as ‘Kingmakers’ of election: 16 per cent of voters are Yadav and 17 per cent are Muslim in the state. These two communities dominate in 110 seats.
Even as the leaders of the ruling NDA in Bihar and the Grand Alliance claim that development is the key plank in the upcoming Assembly elections, the caste factor, however, has always been there and the strategy of all the parties hovers around this factor.The political parties have always been selecting candidates on the basis of the strength of a caste in a particular constituency.And, given the electorate profile of BIhar, this theory has made the Muslim-Yadav (MY) equation very relevant in the state. It has played a significant role during the 15-year rule of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad. Even the current Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar has also always eyed the MY factor apart from Koeri and Kurmi (KK equation).
As per the Election Commission data, 16 per cent of voters are Yadav and 17 per cent are Muslim in the state. These two communities dominate in 110 seats. Hence, the JD-U has given 19 seats to Yadav candidates and 11 to Muslims in the 2020 Assembly poll.
Meanwhile,Former JD(U) MP Ali Anwar, now the president of All India Pasmanda Muslim Mehaz, an apolitical forum for OBC Muslims, said the forum would appeal to people to vote for the “right candidates” from non-NDA parties.The forum had convened a meeting of its functionaries from across the state in Patna Saturday. A pamphlet of the forum begins with “Kahin Bihar UP ki tarah na ho jaaye”, cautioning people against letting Bihar “go the UP way”, and appeals to them to “vote not with closed eyes, but with open eyes”.
Anwar told The Indian Express, “We have been raising voice for Pasmanda (backward) Muslims for several years under the forum, which attracted attention of Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar in past.” Anwar had fallen out with JD (U) months before the expiry of his Rajya Sabha term two years ago and joined ranks with former MP Sharad Yadav, who had fallen out with Nitish. “Our people can neither vote for BJP nor for JD (U). Though we are not specifying any non-NDA party, we would tell our supporters to vote for right candidates, who have shown promise to work for development.”
According to some local urdu newspapers’ observation that most of the Muslims do not and would not vote for the AIMIM for two reasons – it rarely has a chance to defeat the BJP and, (or) they do not agree with the politics of Owaisi. This, despite the fact that Owaisi is one leader who has unequivocally echoed the sentiments of Muslims on all platforms, a fact acknowledged by almost every Muslim irrespective of the political affiliation.
Failed by the traditional political system, betrayed by the secular parties, now Muslims are forced to reevaluate the options their ancestors chose for them, including the decision to vote for the Congress and likes and not push for a separate political entity. This was due to the promises made by the Congress leaders and the trust Muslims placed in them. Despite being let down, time and again, they have not broken faith.
However, the developments over the last six years, especially of the last year, have forced them to rethink this strategy and many agree that the community needs representation. In a world where Muslims are short of allies, Owaisi finds support among the young Muslims. If secular parties continue the rant against him for the fear of losing Muslim votes, instead of doing something more to retain them, they risk more harm than gain .(www.siyasat.net is Ahmedabad, Gujarat, india base website)
