AIMIM seeks entry into Mahagathbandhan ahead of Bihar assembly elections
Patna: The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), led by Asaduddin Owaisi, has expressed its willingness to join the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in Bihar ahead of the upcoming assembly elections. The current opposition alliance includes the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and Left parties.
AIMIM's Bihar state president and its lone MLA, Akhtarul Iman, has written a formal letter to RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, requesting the inclusion of AIMIM in the alliance. Dated July 2, the letter emphasized that the party’s inclusion would help consolidate secular votes and bolster the opposition’s chances of forming the next government.
“Inclusion of AIMIM in Bihar’s version of the INDIA bloc will prevent division of secular votes and strengthen the fight against the BJP,” Iman stated in the letter, which was shared by party leaders on social media.
Iman also recalled that AIMIM had made efforts to join the alliance during the 2020 assembly elections. At that time, AIMIM had allied with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the now-defunct Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), securing five seats, mainly in the Muslim-dominated Seemanchal region. However, all but Iman later merged with the RJD in 2022.
In 2020, the Mahagathbandhan narrowly missed a majority by just a dozen seats. Political analysts had pointed to AIMIM’s presence in key constituencies as a contributing factor in the division of opposition votes.
So far, the RJD and other Mahagathbandhan allies have not issued a public response to AIMIM’s proposal.
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UP Cong chief Ajay Rai hospitalised after fainting, stable
Lucknow (PTI): Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai was hospitalised here after he fell unconscious due to low sodium levels, party leaders said on Saturday.
They said he was admitted to Medanta Hospital on Friday evening and is stable.
"Ajay Rai was admitted to Medanta Hospital in Lucknow at around 6 pm on Friday after he fell unconscious as his sodium levels had dropped. He fell unconscious at his residence in Lucknow. For the entire day, he was engaged in party programmes and had also gone to the airport," Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi told PTI.
Congress in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Avinash Pande told PTI, "Now, he (Ajay Rai) is stable and I am also reaching Lucknow."
Medanta Hospital Director Dr Rakesh Kapoor told PTI that Rai collapsed at his home on Friday evening and was subsequently admitted to the hospital's emergency ward.
Medical examinations revealed that Rai was suffering from a sodium deficiency and elevated blood pressure. Doctors administered immediate treatment and he is doing significantly better now, Kapoor said.
A team of doctors is monitoring his health. Rai is conversing with others and his condition is stable, he added.
In a post on X late Friday night, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished Rai a speedy recovery.
Rai hails from Varanasi and had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections against Modi from the parliamentary constituency. The Congress appointed him as the Uttar Pradesh unit chief in 2023.
