During a campaign stop in Kishanganj, Bihar, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi launched a strong critique against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav. Owaisi responded to Yadav’s alleged remarks, where he reportedly labeled Owaisi as an “extremist.” In a direct challenge, Owaisi stated, “Today an interviewer asked Tejashwi Yadav why he didn’t align with Owaisi. Tejashwi said that Owaisi is an extremist, a fanatic, a terrorist… I ask Tejashwi, ‘Babu, write the word ‘extremist’ in English’. He calls me an extremist because I follow my religion with pride.”
These comments come at a time when political temperatures are high due to the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, scheduled for November 6 and 11. Owaisi’s remarks were made in Seemanchal, an area with a significant Muslim population. The AIMIM party shared a video on X, criticizing Yadav’s comments as an insult to the people of Seemanchal, suggesting that his remarks were based on Owaisi’s religious attire.
The political spat is also occurring in the context of a breakdown in seat-sharing negotiations between the AIMIM and the Mahagathbandhan alliance, led by the RJD. The AIMIM had reportedly requested six seats for the elections, but their proposal was not accepted by the INDIA bloc.
Further highlighting his critique of Yadav’s perceived disconnect from ground realities, Owaisi recounted an incident where young children were chanting political slogans. He remarked, “Tejashwi, did you see that an eight-year-old child is saying ‘Patang Chap’? But you are flying in the sky, you don’t have time to come down to the earth?… But the people of Seemanchal will make you sleep on the ground.”
The electoral battle for Kishanganj, where the Congress won by a slim margin in 2020, is heating up. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Sweety Singh, the Mahagathbandhan has nominated Qamrul Hoda, and AIMIM’s candidate is Advocate Shams Aghaz. While the AIMIM has announced 25 candidates for the Bihar Assembly elections, the party has faced challenges in maintaining its political ground, having lost four MLAs to the RJD after the 2020 elections.
The 2025 Bihar Assembly elections are anticipated to be a closely contested affair between the ruling NDA and the Mahagathbandhan opposition coalition, with results expected on November 14.