Hopeful that AIMIM will do well in Bihar assembly polls: Owaisi

Patna, Jan 18 (PTI) AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi expressed confidence that his party would perform well in the Bihar assembly polls due later this year.

The Hyderabad MP, who was here on Friday to attend a meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, briefly responded to queries from journalists.

“I hope that my party will do well (in the assembly polls) and candidates will win and become MLAs,” Owaisi said.

Asked about the possibility of the AIMIM entering into an alliance with other parties, he said, “Just wait and see what happens.”

The AIMIM had tasted moderate success in the assembly polls of 2020 when it contested 20 seats and won five of those, all in the Seemanchal region, which has a high percentage of Muslim population.

The party had then forged an alliance with Mayawati’s BSP and the now-extinct RLSP, headed by Upendra Kushwaha, who has since floated a new outfit, aligned with the NDA and entered the Rajya Sabha.

However, in 2022, the AIMIM received a jolt with all but one of its MLAs jumping ship to join the RJD, the state’s main opposition party.

The AIMIM failed to win any seat in Bihar in last year’s Lok Sabha polls, though its state president and lone MLA Akhtarul Iman finished third in Kishanganj, polling more than 25 per cent of the total number of votes.