By IndiaTomorrow.net,
Patna, 16 Sep 2015: Just three days after the All India Majlis-e Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) announced to contest the Bihar Assembly elections, another Muslim political outfit called Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) has decided to jump into the fray. AIMIM supremo and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi had announced to fight Bihar polls on 12th Sep. The five-phased polls for 243-seat Bihar Assembly will start from 12th Oct.
“The party has been working in Bihar for the past 5 years and there are about 10 thousand party cadres and members in the state,” Elyas Muhammad Thumbe, General Secretary of SDPI while releasing a list of five candidates on Tuesday (15th Sep).
The five Assembly constituencies where SDPI has decided to field its candidates are Katihar, Purnea, Jokihat, Manihari and Mahua.
Interestingly, four of the five seats where SDPI will contest fall in Seemanchal region where Asaduddin Owaisi is also going to field his candidates.
Though viewed as a Muslim political party, SDPI has tried to play a balancing act in terms of candidate selection in Bihar. Two of the five SDPI candidates -Vijay Arun for the Purnea seat and Prabhulal for the Manihari constituency of Katihar district – are Hindu. Apart from the duo, Naseem Akhter will contest the polls from the Katihar constituency, Muhammad Yahya from Jokihat of the Araria District and in the Mahua constituency of Vaishali District, Riyaz Ahmed will contest the polls on SDPI ticket.
Talking about the plight of Bihar as an underdeveloped state, SDPI leader said that even though the state has abundant natural and human resources, people of the state have been living in pathetic condition. He further said the onus for the measurable plight of the people goes to the ruling parties in Bihar.
Slamming the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the centre, Elysas said, “The ruling party of the centre is trying to win the polls by spreading the venom of communal hatred and playing divisive politics in Bihar.”
“Many parties in Bihar have been playing the cards of crime and casteism to reap political gains. A fear free and developed Bihar is the goal of SDPI,” added Elyas.
While SDPI’s presence has so far been significantly felt in some pockets of the South Indian states including Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka – because its mentor Popular Front of India is based in the south – this is the first time the party has set foot in a Hindi-speaking state.
On the other hand, Asaduddin Owaisi has announced to field candidates in the Muslim-dominated Seemanchal region of Bihar. Seemanchal comprises four districts of Kishanganj, Katihar, Araria and Purnea. There are 24 Assembly constituencies in the four districts together. Owaisi’s party has not yet released list of its candidates.
