This story is from October 25, 2019

Asaduddin Owaisi's party debuts in Bihar, wins Kishanganj assembly election

Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), which had been trying for a foothold in Bihar for nearly a decade, finally opened its account in the state by winning the Kishanganj assembly bypoll on Thursday.
Asaduddin Owaisi's party debuts in Bihar, wins Kishanganj assembly election
Asaduddin Owaisi
PATNA: Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), which had been trying for a foothold in Bihar for nearly a decade, finally opened its account in the state by winning the Kishanganj assembly bypoll on Thursday.
AIMIM’s Qamrul Hoda defeated Sweety Singh of BJP by a margin of 10,211 votes. While Hoda polled 70,469 votes, his nearest rival Singh got 60,258 votes.
Qamrul overcame initial hiccups to emerge as the dark horse and was declared victorious on Thursday from the Muslim-dominated assembly constituency.
The Kishanganj bypoll was necessitated after the sitting Congress MLA, Javed Alam, was elected to the Lok Sabha in April this year. The seat was considered a Congress bastion but Javed’s mother Saeeda Bano, who was fielded as its candidate, came third.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Akhtarul Imam of AIMIM had got substantial number of votes in Bahadurganj and Kochadhaman assembly segments of the Kishanganj Lok Sabha constituency, which prompted the AIMIM to field its candidate in the assembly bypoll.
“This is not a good sign for the party,” said veteran Congress leader and former assembly speaker Sadanand Singh, expressing concern over Owaisi’s party getting a foothold in Bihar.
According to the former Bihar state Congress president, the party workers were not as enthused as they should have been during the bypoll in Kishanganj. “Party workers mein kuchh narajgi thi (there was a bit of resentment among the party workers),” he said, adding Owaisi had been trying to establish his base in Bihar for long, which he has achieved.

After his victory, Qamrul said, “I will try to live up to the expectations of the people of the region, who have reposed faith in me. I will leave no stone unturned to put the constituency on the development map in my short tenure as its legislator.” He, however, blamed the Congress for the backwardness of the region, accusing its elected representative of duping the people in the name of development.
Congratulating the voters of Kishanganj for their support, AIMIM state president Akhtarul Imam said, “The party will not disappoint the people who lent their support to our candidate.”
Owaisi had been eyeing the Muslim-dominated region for nearly a decade but fielded candidates for the first time in the 2015 assembly polls. AIMIM put up candidates in six seats of Seemanchal, but drew a blank. In 2014, he had announced that AIMIM would contest the 2014 general elections from Bihar but did not field any candidates. Owaisi has in the past addressed public meetings in the Seemanchal region that comprise Kishanganj, Purnia, Katihar and Araria districts and have a sizable Muslim population.
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