‘Will join INDIA bloc in Bihar if AIMIM gets to contest six seats’

Kishanganj: Expressing displeasure over allegations of “helping the BJP” in Bihar, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday said the party would join the INDIA bloc if it gets to contest six seats in the eastern state in the upcoming assembly polls.

The Hyderabad MP was speaking to journalists in Kishanganj, a north Bihar district with nearly two-thirds Muslim population, where he launched a three-day ‘Seemanchal Nyay Yatra’.

“My party’s Bihar unit chief has written a number of letters to the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly (Tejashwi Yadav). In the last letter, it has been requested that AIMIM be accommodated with six seats in elections to the 243-strong assembly,” Owaisi said. “The ball is now in the court of the INDIA bloc. We made the move so that we do not face accusations of helping the BJP. A lack of proper response will make it clear who is actually helping the saffron party.”