Hyderabad: Newly-elected MIM MLAs from Bihar call on Asaduddin Owaisi

Hyderabad: Five newly-elected legislators of the Bihar Assembly belonging to the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) called on party President Asaduddin Owaisi here on Thursday. Owaisi, who is also the Member of Parliament from Hyderabad, welcomed the MLAs at his residence by shaking hands and hugging them.

AIMIM Bihar state unit President Akhtarul Iman, who was elected from Amour constituency, Muhammed Izhar Asfi (Kochadamam), Shahnawaz Alam (Jokihat), Syed Ruknuddin (Baisi) and Azhar Nayeemi (Bahadurgunj) arrived in the city late on Wednesday to meet Owaisi. The AIMIM put up an impressive show in the recent Bihar elections to win five out of 20 Assembly seats it contested.

The Hyderabad-headquartered party, which polled 1.24 per cent (5,23,279) votes, was a constituent of the Grand Democratic Secular Front, which contested all 243 seats and had projected Upendra Kushwaha as the chief ministerial candidate. However, except the AIMIM and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which bagged one seat, other constituents of the Front drew a blank.

Kushwaha-led Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), the Samajwadi Janata Dal Democratic and the Democratic Party (Socialist) were the other constituents of the Front. Owaisi, who had addressed over 60 rallies in Bihar, termed as "historic" the results for his party but said the outcome for the alliance was not on the expected lines. He also said his party would analyse the results in other constituencies and will try to overcome the weaknesses.

The AIMIM was eyeing the kingmaker's role but its hopes were dashed as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led United Democratic Alliance (NDA) retained the power with simple majority. The Congress, a constituent of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led Mahagathbandhan (MGB) has blamed AIMIM for spoiling the chances of MGB.

However, brushing aside the criticism, Owaisi said his party has every right to contest the elections in any part of the country.

"Congress is still shouting 'vote katwa' just as before. They've already started blaming their own failure on the AIMIM's success," tweeted Owaisi.

He said that in seats where the NDA won, the victory margin was more than the votes polled by AIMIM candidates. "NDA would have won regardless of our candidate. In other words, MGB failed to defeat NDA on these seats," he said.