AIMPLB, BJP on their marks, Bihar heats up as Waqf battleground ahead of Assembly race
HOPING to make a difference in the Bihar Assembly elections scheduled for end of this year, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) is planning a series of programmes in the state against the Waqf (Amendment) Act, which is facing several petitions in the Supreme Court.
The Board has organised public gatherings under its 'Save Waqf Campaign' across the country, but its efforts have been more concentrated on Bihar, particularly the districts of Patna, Araria, Kishanganj, Bhagalpur, Begusarai, Saharsa, Madhubani, Siwan and Darbhanga.
In a statement earlier this week, the AIMPLB underlined the importance of the state for the party because of the coming elections. 'It is likely that these (Save Waqf Campaign) programmes can influence the election results as well,' it said.
The nine Bihar districts where the AIMPLB is focusing consist of 72 Assembly constituencies, or 30% of the 243-seat House. Muslims, who make up around 17.7% of the Bihar population, play a decisive role in at least 30 of these 72 Assembly seats.
In the 2020 Assembly polls, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had won a majority (38) of these 72 seats, with the BJP securing 25 seats, followed by the JD(U) 11 and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VSIP) 2.
The Opposition Mahagathbandhan had won 28 of the 72 seats, with the RJD winning 11, the Congress 5, CPI (ML) (L) 4 and CPI 2. The BJP's performance was significant given that Muslims are seen as staunch RJD supporters in Bihar.
These 72 seats also comprised the five constituencies won by the AIMIM in 2020 (four of its five MLAs who won crossed over to the RJD). The AIMIM had formed a third front at the time, with the BSP and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP). Upendra Kushwaha had later merged his RLSP with the JD(U), but had again split and now heads the Rashtriya Lok Morcha, which is part of the NDA.
The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) led by Chirag Paswan which was outside the NDA umbrella then and contested separately, won its lone seat from here too.
In its Save Waqf Campaign, the AIMPLB, along with other Muslim bodies, is targeting BJP allies in particular, including the JD(U), accusing them of 'betraying Muslims' on the Waqf Act.
During one such event in Delhi last month, Muslim clerics and the AIMPLB accused NDA parties of 'stabbing Muslims in the back' by supporting the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in Parliament, and asked them to push the government to withdraw the contentious law or be ready to face the community's opposition everywhere.
They are specifically naming NDA leaders such as JD(U) president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Chirag Paswan, and HAM (S) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, apart from other BJP allies outside Bihar like NCP president Ajit Pawar and TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu.
'We are hopeful that the JD(U), LJP and HAM which got Muslim votes in the past will not get their support now because of the new Waqf law. The AIMPLB will not make any direct political appeal against any particular party. Other Muslim organisations participating in the programmes will make such appeal. The AIMPLB will only tell people which parties helped the government make the Waqf law. Bihar's ruling party (JD-U) was involved in making of the law,' says S Q R Ilyas, AIMPLB spokesperson and Convenor of the All India Save Waqf Campaign.
Last month, the BJP leadership constituted a four-member coordination committee, headed by Rajya Sabha MP Radha Mohan Das Agrawal, to tour the country to create awareness among people, including Muslims, on the 'benefits' of the contentious Waqf Act. The party also has its sights on Bihar and has held meetings in Bhagalpur, Motihari, Patna, Muzaffarpur etc.
'These programmes were planned in other areas too but were postponed after the Pahalgam terror attack. Then the party organisation got busy with the Tiranga Yatra. Waqf-law related programmes are yet to resume,' says Kamruzzama Ansari, the Bihar BJP minority wing president. BJP allies are not a part of these programmes, says Ansari.
He expresses confidence that the campaign of the AIMPLB and opposition parties on the Waqf Act will not damage the BJP or its allies in the Bihar polls. 'Out of the total Muslim population, the majority are Pasmanda, who are poor and have been deprived of benefits of Waqf properties. Now they will get benefits due to the new law, and the Pasmandas will support the BJP and its allies,' Ansari says.
He expects the Centre's announcement to hold a caste census along with the next Census exercise to also help the BJP among the Pasmanda Muslims. K Laxman, the national president of the BJP's OBC Morcha, told The Indian Express earlier that Pasmanda Muslims would be counted as OBCs in the caste census.
At the same time, Ansari hopes that the BJP will give tickets to Muslims and accommodate Muslim leaders in government to strengthen trust in the community.
Former MP Ali Anwar Ansari, currently in the Congress and the head of the All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz, contests the BJP's hopes of getting Pasmanda votes. 'Muslims, particularly Pasmanda, have voted for the JD(U), LJP and HAM in the past, but they will not vote for these parties now because they are upset with the Waqf law. Some greedy Muslims and some others in their individual capacity may vote for these BJP's allies, but the community will largely vote against them,' Ansari says, adding that the Congress too will make the Waqf law one of its campaign issues in Bihar.
JD(U) leaders say the party is conscious that there may be a Waqf backlash. However, they point out, several Muslim leaders had earlier this year turned up for the Bihar government's iftar event despite a boycott call.
They included leaders of the Imarat-e-Shariah, which is associated with the AIMPLB campaign in Bihar. In March, the Imarat-e-Shariah had boycotted the iftar hosted by CM Nitish Kumar in protest against his party's support for the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind had stayed away from the iftar as well as the Eid Milan and other such functions organised by both Nitish Kumar and Chirag Paswan.
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