Bihar elections: Owaisi blames RJD for BJP's rise; asks Cong 'not to teach secularism'

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday blamed the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) for the rise of the BJP in Bihar and dismissed suggestions that his party was in the election arena in the state to split secular votes and help the saffron party.

He also slammed Congress, an ally of the RJD, castigating it for contesting the Maharashtra assembly elections together with his All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul- Muslimeen (AIMIM) but later joining hands with the Shiv Sena, "the demolishers of the Babri mosque", and forming a coalition government in the western state.

'Congress shall not teach us secularism'

"Congress shall not teach us secularism," the Hyderabad MP told PTI-Bhasha in an interview in Patna. The AIMIM leader wondered why some in the RJD were calling him "vote katua" (a vote splitter) who has jumped into the election arena to help the BJP.

"How was my party responsible for the RJD's complete rout in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in a state the party calls its 'garh' (fort)?" he asked. "What happened to these so-called 'thekedar' (contractors) of anti-BJP votes in the 2019 general elections?" he asked while mocking the RJD-Congress alliance that claims to be pro-minority and secular. "I fail to understand on what basis they claim sole ownership of Muslim votes in Bihar," he said.

Owaisi said the United Democratic Secular Alliance (USDA) that he has forged with Devendra Prasad Yadav, is also in talks with other parties and fronts. "People of Bihar are feeling suffocated today due to the misrule of the two major alliances and are looking for a better alternative...we will try to fulfil their hope with a strong coalition of secular forces," the AIMIM chief said.

The AIMIM recently won the Muslim-dominated Kishanganj assembly seat in a by-election earlier this year. It now looks forward to increasing its footprint in Bihar where Muslims have largely voted for Lalu Prasad's RJD for many years.

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Bihar elections

The Bihar Assembly elections will be held in three phases with polling to take place on October 28, and November 3 and 7, with the counting of votes to take place on November 10. In the 2015 Assembly polls, JDU, RJD, and Congress had fought the elections together under the Mahagathbandhan banner.

On the other hand, the BJP-led NDA had fought the elections with Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and other allies. After the polls, however, a rift emerged between JDU and the RJD in 2017, leading to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar snapping ties and rejoining ties with the BJP-led NDA to retain power in Bihar.

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Owaisi blames RJD for BJP's rise in Bihar; asks Congress 'not to teach secularism'