Bihar Polls : Owaisi criticises ECI over voter list revision; rules out joining INDIA bloc
AIMIM
) president
Asaduddin Owaisi
has questioned the authority of the
Election Commission of India
to determine citizenship of Indian nationals, accusing them of doing "NRC through back door" over the poll-body's decision to Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls ahead of the Bihar Assembly election.
Speaking with ANI, Owaisi said. "Who gave the ECI the power to determine whether someone is a citizen or not? Our party was the first to say that SIR is NRC through the back door. "
Owaisi also questioned the result of the last SIR conducted in Bihar in 2003
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"We demand the number of those BLOs. We will ask our party members to meet those BLOs and ask them where the people from Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh are that they are talking about... The SIR was conducted in 2003. How many foreign nationals were revealed at that time?"
Owaisi continued his verbal tirade not just on the ruling alliance and ECI but also on the
INDIA bloc
by ruling out the possibility of joining the alliance and accusing it of suppressing the new leaders.
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"One-sided love is not going to happen. The people of Bihar should understand that the accusations that were made against us were based on lies and were made because they do not want a leader of the poor and oppressed people to become their political leadership," Owaisi said while speaking to ANI.
They just want you to remain their slaves, to walk behind them with your head bowed," Owaisi added.
Owaisi expressed his disinterest in joining the INDIA bloc, citing past experiences and accusations against his party as reasons for his decision. AIMIM Bihar president Akhtarul Iman has suggested forming a third front, which Owaisi seems to be considering as a viable alternative.
The MP from Hyderabad has announced that AIMIM will contest the elections, focusing on the Seemanchal region, where the party has a strong presence.
Positioning his party as an independent political force, Owaisi said AIMIM is prepared to contest the upcoming elections on its own terms and "form a third front."
He said, "We will fight our elections well. Our president, Akhtarul Iman, has said that we should try to form a third front. This was an effort from our side. Everything has come before the people of Bihar for a reason."
Bihar Assembly elections
are expected to be held later this year in October or November; however, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not announced an official date.
While the NDA, consisting of the BJP, JD(U), and LJP, will once again be looking to continue their stint in Bihar, the INDIA bloc, consisting of the RJD, Congress, and left parties, will be looking to unseat Nitish Kumar.
In the current Bihar Assembly of 243 members, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) consists of 131 with the BJP having 80 MLAs, JD(U)-45, HAM(S)-4, with the support of 2 Independent Candidates.
The Opposition's INDIA Bloc has a strength of 111 members with RJD leading with 77 MLAs, Congress-19, CPI(ML)-11, CPI(M)-2 and CPI-2.
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