Ex-Bihar CM Manjhi hints at alliance with AIMIM

Former Bihar chief minister and Hindustan Awam Morcha president Jitan Ram Manjhi on Monday hinted that he may join hands with the AIMIM led by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi. He said that it is the need of the hour that Dalits and Muslims fight together.

A day after setting a two-day ultimatum for the grand alliance led by RJD to act on his demand for a coordination committee for the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar, Manjhi told reporters on Monday that he will think of forming a third front and may not join the Opposition parties’ joint protest on November 13.

“If the coordination committee is not formed by December, we will also think of forming a third front in Bihar. I have been in favour of Dalit-Muslim unity. I had hailed AIMIM’s victory in Kishanganj in the recently held byelections. Had the Mahagathbandhan been united, we would have also won the Nathnagar assembly seat. Nonetheless, if favourable talks for coordination committee in the Mahagathbandhan are not held, we will think of other options,” Manjhi said.

When asked specifically about any possible alliance with AIMIM, Manjhi said: “I have made a call for unity of Muslims and Dalits in Bihar politics. Now it depends upon them (AIMIM) to take a call. Whether it is the matter of National Register of Citizens (NRC) or other issues, I am of the view that welfare of Dalits and Muslims is possible if both do politics together. It is the need of the hour; otherwise neither of the two will benefit.”

AIMIM state president Akhtarul Iman welcomed Manjhi’s call. “It has been seen that Dalits and Muslims have been suppressed and devoid of social and economic uplift since Independence. Given the prevailing bad governance in Bihar and communal forces getting strong in the country, Dalits and Muslims should come together for their betterment. We will definitely like to welcome like-minded people on one platform,” he told TOI.