Nitish Kumar
By DK Sinha
Patna: Ahead of Bihar cabinet expansion, all five All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) legislators have met Bihar chief minister and senior Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar, creating ripples in the political circle.
Hordes of political watchers were prompted to conclude that AIMIM MLAs, all of them elected from Muslim-dominated region of the state, will join JD (U) in lust of ministerial berths. AIMIM MLAs had met Nitish along with JDU leader and Bihar minister Vijay Chaudhary at the official residence of CM, 1, Anne Marg, last Thursday evening.
In a statement issued on the AIMIM’s official Twitter handle, the party said that all party MLAs from Seemanchal were very much serious about bringing speedy growth to the region and so they met the CM. AIMIM MLAs under the leadership of state party president and MLA Akhtarul Imam met to discuss ways for preventing of flood and erosion of rivers in Seemanchal region and construction of new and old pending bridges in the region.
Nothing is known about what inspired at the meeting. AIMIM leader Mohammed Adil Hasan claimed that they called on Nitish Kumar to discuss the development of Seemanchal.
“We have no aversion with Nitish Kumar but with the Bharatiya Janata Party,” he added. He said Asaduddin Owaisi was not joining hands with Nitish Kumar if he broke away from BJP.
Interestingly, the lone Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Jama Khan had joined JD (U) last week along with independent legislator Sumit Singh. Similarly, lone Lok Janshakti Party MLA Raj Kumar Singh has also met with Nitish Kumar.
An Independent MLA, Sumit Singh, has also announced his support to JD-U. There are also talks that both leaders might be accommodated in the Nitish government.
JD (U) has only 43 MLAs against BJP`s 74 MLAs in Bihar assembly, robbing the party of its big brother status. So, JD (U) is keen to improve in its tally and also avert any split in it by improving its numerical strength. It is also a ploy to keep the BJP guessing and assert itself that it could also look for other options like returning to the grand alliance if the party (BJP) annoys beyond a limit.
