AIMIM reaches out to Lalu over Bihar tie-up

Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM has written to RJD supremo Lalu Prasad for an alliance for the upcoming Bihar elections, suggesting that the party seems unsure of its 2020 performance when five of its candidates were elected, even though four of them had defected to RJD in 2022.

- Aditya Nath Jha

In a letter dated July 2, which party leaders have shared on social media, party's Bihar president Akhtarul Iman has said that the inclusion of AIMIM in Bihar's prototype of INDIA bloc “will prevent a split in secular votes”.

Some observers of Bihar politics, however, deem AIMIM’s last ditch outreach to RJD as a tactical move to send out a public message that the party, inimical to perception, is not a ‘B team’ of BJP and that it tried its best form a united front against the BJP-included NDA government in the state.

Last week, its Bihar president Akhtarul Iman, also lone MLA of the party, has said that AIMIM had been trying to meet RJD leadership for an alliance and that in case of being spurned, it would opt for a solo ride or a front of alternative political forces.