AIMIM issues list of 32 seats it'll contest in Bihar; Owaisi eyes 'like-minded parties'

Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has declared that the party will fight elections in at least 32 seats as it released the first list for Assembly polls scheduled later this year in Bihar. The party will field 32 candidates, spread out in 22 districts of the state, according to the first list and will be looking to expand his party's base in the state.

'We will soon make an announcement'

The information regarding the same was shared in a press conference held by Akhtar ul Iman, Bihar AIMIM president at the party's Kishanganj office. The districts from which AIMIM will field candidates include, Katihar, Purnia, Darbhanga, Samastipur, Patna, among others. 

The AIMIM currently has one MLA, Kamrul Huda, who won the Kishanganj seat in the by-election, held last year. The AIMIM is also hopeful of stitching an alliance with "like-minded parties" to put up a formidable challenge to the ruling NDA in the assembly elections.

"We have been in consultation with several like-minded parties to build a strong alliance. We will soon make an announcement in this regard," said Akhtar ul Iman. 

Bihar assembly election

Bihar is going to polls in October-November this year. As BJP lost in Delhi, all eyes are set on former party chief Amit Shah and Nitish Kumar -led JDU. While Kumar faces strong anti-incumbency, RJD - Bihar's main opposition has lost the lustre it once had due to the absence of it's chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. Meanwhile, former JDU vice president Prashant Kishor has also claimed that he is working at 'ground level' for the development of Bihar.

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In the 2015 assembly polls, CM Nitish Kumar's JDU, then a part of the Mahagathbandhan won 71 seats, Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD won 80 seats, and Congress won 27 seats. The BJP which fought the elections alone after Kumar in 2013 broke the 17-year-old alliance won a mere 53 seats out of 157 contested. However, the saffron party came back to power when Kumar ditched the Mahagathbandhan and once again stitched an alliance with the BJP.

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(With agency inputs)