Patna: Union minister Giriraj Singh on Friday stoked a controversy by terming AIMIM’s victory in Kishanganj “a threat to social integrity” and compared party chief Asaduddin Owaisi with Jinnah.
In a tweet on Friday, Mr Singh said that “The most dangerous result in Bihar by-election has emerged from Kishanganj where Asaduddin Owaisi’s Party AIMIM has won. The party is influenced by the ideology of Jinnah and it also hates Vande Mataram. AIMIM’s victory is a threat to the social integrity of Bihar. People should think about their future”.
In Kishanganj, BJP candidate Sweety Singh was defeated by AIMIM nominee Qamarul Hoda by around 11,000 votes.
Political parties in Bihar are of the view that AIMIM’s entry in Bihar could change the political equations in the Seemanchal districts like Kishanganj, Purnea, Katihar, and Araria where Muslims have maximum representation.
Kishanganj was earlier considered a Congress traditional seat.
Though few Bharatiya Janata Party leaders came out in support of Giriraj Singh’s statement against Asaduddin Owaisi’s party AIMIM, a section in NDA differed and criticised him for trying to create differences through his controversial statements.
The Opposition RJD also slammed BJP’s firebrand leader for giving the statement.
According to RJD spokesperson Bhai Birendra, “NDA’s performance has disturbed the BJP in Bihar. Leaders like Giriraj Singh are giving such kind of statements to divert public attention but they cannot change the fact. At the moment, I can only say that the by-poll results were just a trailer the BJP will see the whole picture during 2020 assembly elections”.
When asked whether the Opposition feels that the bypolls on five seats was a semi-final ahead of 2020 Assembly elections, RJD leaders said that “the term semi-final was floated by BJP leaders but after their poor performance they are trying to give controversial statements to create differences in society”.
Experts said that the byelection results have given a boost to the image of Tejashwi Yadav, who has been facing a leadership crisis in the grand alliance. Meanwhile, the ruling JD(U), which suffered a setback after losing four of the five assembly seats in Bihar, is likely to hold a meeting of party leaders to “assess the results and discuss fresh strategies against the grand alliance”.
Talking to reporters for the first time after the poll results, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said that “We have accepted people’s mandate and after bypoll results, our party will bounce back in the assembly elections”.
