In the politics of Bihar, the political edifice of RJD is also built on the foundation of Muslim-Yadav like SP in UP, but in this Lok Sabha election, Lalu Prasad Yadav is trying to come out of the image of M-Y. Under the India alliance, RJD is contesting elections on 23 seats in Bihar, in which names of candidates have been announced on most of the seats. However, this time instead of releasing the list of RJD candidates, Lalu Yadav is allotting symbols directly to the candidates.
Names of eight Yadav candidates decided so far
RJD’s core vote bank in Bihar is considered to be Yadavs and Muslims, but Yadavs are being given share in terms of their population. It is believed that about eight Yadav candidates can contest from RJD, but the name of not even a single candidate from the Muslim community has been announced yet. Ashraf Ali Fatmi is likely to get a ticket from the Madhubani seat. Apart from this, either Sarfaraz or Shahnawaz is expected to get a ticket from RJD on the Araria seat.
Is the Party avoiding giving tickets to Muslims?
RJD will not field Shahabuddin’s son and wife from Siwan this time. Due to this, Shahabuddin’s wife Hina Shahab has announced to contest as an independent candidate. At the same time, RJD has given the Begusarai seat to the Left, due to which Tanveer Hasan’s hopes of contesting the Lok Sabha elections have been completely dashed. In such a situation, RJD can field Muslim candidates only from Madhubani and Araria seats in the 2024 elections, whereas 8 tickets have been given to the Yadav community. The population of Yadav and Muslim communities is almost equal.
At the same time, if we look at the Muslim candidates of India Alliance in Bihar, Congress has given Muslim tickets only on two out of 9 seats of its quota, in which the sitting MP from Kishanganj Mohammad Javed and Tariq Anwar from Katihar have been made candidates. The third ally of the India alliance is the Left Party, which has got five Lok Sabha seats. The Left has not fielded a Muslim candidate on even a single seat. Similarly, recently Mukesh Sahni’s VIP, a part of the India alliance, has got three seats, but a Muslim is not being made a candidate on even a single seat. Out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, Muslims are expected to get tickets only on three to four seats in the India alliance.
What is the percentage of Muslim votes in Bihar?
Let us tell you that according to the caste census data in Bihar, there are 17.70 percent Muslims in Bihar. If we look at the slogans of social justice, then 7 to 8 tickets are made for Muslims. RJD and Congress get 70 to 80 percent votes of Muslims. From RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav to Tejashwi Yadav, they talk about their share in the population, but their hands are failing in giving tickets to Muslims.
-Rahul Dubey