“We were not invited to earlier meetings either,” he clarified. Iman said that the primary goal of the Opposition coalition would be to dethrone the BJP-led NDA from power in Bihar.“We have a strong support base in the Seemanchal region. We will field our candidates from the seats in the Seemanchal region if our proposal for alignment with the INDIA bloc is turned down,” he remarked.Seemanchal region comprises Kishanganj, Purnea, Katihar and Araria districts where AIMIM has a strong network of grassroot activists. In 2020 assembly election, AIMIM had won five seats in Seemanchal region, although four MLAs later defected to RJD, which was a major setback for the party.Iman said that AIMIM’s willingness to join hands with INDIA bloc should not be construed as weakness.“We want to contest elections together to ensure the defeat of the ruling dispensation in Bihar,” he added. He did not rule out the possibility of AIMIM fielding its candidates in other regions apart from Seemanchal if the INDIA bloc partners did not agree to a partnership.In the 2020 assembly election, AIMIM had formed the Grand Democratic Secular Front with former union ministers, then RLSP, Mayawati’s BSP, former minister Devendra Prasad Yadav’s SJDD, Om Prakash Rajbhar’s SBSP and Sanjay Chauhan’s Janwadi Party.RLSP had contested 104 seats, BSP 80, SJDD 25, AIMIM 19, among others. Only AIMIM could win five seats and BSP one.
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