Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is addressing the joint rally of Grand Alliance in Purnia. , Photo Credit: PTI
TeaThe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is currently trying hard to make inroads in Seemanchal, the stronghold of the Grand Alliance. The importance of the region can be understood from the fact that Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched his Lok Sabha campaign in Bihar from Seemanchal in September 2022 and has contested three times in Bihar after the Janata Dal (United) parted ways with the BJP in August 2022. Visited.
In response, the Grand Alliance, consisting of seven parties, There was a rally on February 25 in Purnia district of Seemanchal. At Rangbhoomi Maidan, the same spot from where Mr. Shah started his campaign.
Seemanchal, located in north Bihar, consists of four districts: Purnea, Katihar, Kishanganj and Araria. In the 2019 elections, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won three seats and the Congress won one in the region. At that time JD(U) was a part of NDA. With the JD(U)’s exit from the NDA alliance, the Katihar and Purnia parliamentary seats are now with the JD(U), Araria with the BJP, and Kishanganj with the Congress.
The four districts represent 24 assembly constituencies. That’s why Seemanchal is also important for the 2025 assembly elections. For the JD(U) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which are pitted against the BJP, the high proportion of Muslims (47%) could be politically advantageous. But now the BJP is focused not only on consolidating Hindu votes, but also on wooing Pasmanda Muslims, who constitute over 80% of the Muslim population in Bihar. This is a matter of concern for the Grand Alliance. Pasmanda Muslims are the weaker section of Muslims who converted to Islam long ago from backward classes and Dalit groups. The community with poor socioeconomic status and no political representation has been demanding Scheduled Caste (SC) status for a long time. The Sachar Committee report stated that the condition of Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians had not improved and the Ranganath Misra Commission recommended delinking Scheduled Caste status from religion.
Apart from its outreach to Pasmanda Muslims, the BJP has also alleged that the caste census initiated by JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar has serious issues. The party says the format in which the exercise is being done looks “flawed” and could potentially “tamper with the citizenship register”. It alleged that the process ignores the threat posed by illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and counting Rohingyas as Indian citizens. Seemanchal is a border region, with Nepal next to it and Bangladesh not far away.
While the Grand Alliance says the BJP is resorting to a divide-and-rule policy, Mr Shah warns people in Valmikinagar and Patna in West Champaran district that the victory of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ will ensure the return of a new state . “rule of the jungle.” The BJP has planned to hold several rallies in the Seemanchal region in the coming days.
The Grand Alliance not only has to deal with the challenge of the BJP, but also has to deal with the Owaisi factor. The presence of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi could benefit the BJP as the AIMIM is expected to eat into the Grand Alliance’s vote bank as it has done in previous elections and regions. The people of Seemanchal believe that Mr. Owaisi stands for the Muslim community. It was born out of the 2020 assembly elections when AIMIM won five seats in Seemanchal.
Bihar political analyst Sanjay Kumar says, “Seemanchal is considered a stronghold of the Grand Alliance, while for the BJP it is a politically vulnerable area.” “BJP trying hard to garner support for the party and polarize the region. is doing, in which there are a large number of poor people. It wants to make inroads in an area where the Muslim population is high. Besides, it will try to set the agenda ahead of the Lok Sabha elections that this is the party that can save the country and Hindutva.
Whether BJP’s strategy of consolidating Hindu votes as well as seeking votes from Pasmanda Muslims succeeds remains to be seen. But the Grand Alliance has to deal with both external and internal challenges. Against the backdrop of rumors of a growing rift between the JD(U) and the RJD, Mr Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav asserted that the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in Bihar is intact and ready to halt Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s juggernaut.