Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Patna, October 15 (IANS) Janata Dal (United) has not fielded any Muslim candidate in its first list of 57 candidates for the Bihar Assembly elections.
According to party sources, more lists are expected and JDU may still field Muslim candidates in the upcoming phases.
However, the absence of Muslim names in the first list announced on Wednesday has already sparked political debate and criticism from opposition parties.
In the 2020 assembly elections, JD(U) fielded 11 Muslim candidates out of 115, but none managed to win.
Similarly, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, JDU had fielded Mujahid Alam from Kishanganj, who lost to the Congress candidate.
Jama Khan, who earlier won on Samajwadi Party ticket and later joined JDU, was included in Nitish Kumar’s cabinet, but did not find a place in the list.
Political observers are watching the “exclusion” of Muslim candidates in the light of some recent comments by NDA leaders.
After the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh had said in a rally in Muzaffarpur that the minority community did not vote for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, yet he kept working for him. Around the same time, Sitamarhi MP Devesh Chandra Thakur commented that he would no longer work for Yadavs and Muslims as they did not support them.
These statements had triggered speculations about Nitish Kumar’s tense equation with Muslim voters. His absence in the Waqf Board meeting has further intensified the discussion.
However, in recent months, the Chief Minister has attempted to restore confidence by attending several events organized by the Muslim community ahead of the elections.
Despite these outreach efforts, the absence of Muslim candidates in the JD(U)’s first list is being interpreted as a strategic realignment towards the core NDA voter bases ahead of the high-risk assembly elections.
Assembly elections are to be held in Bihar on 6th and 11th November and the counting of votes will take place on 14th November.
–IANS
AJK/SVN