News Politics National Bihar polls: Will Asaduddin Owaisi's entry tilt the balance against Lalu-Nitish?

Bihar polls: Will Asaduddin Owaisi's entry tilt the balance against Lalu-Nitish?

New Delhi: The decision of Asaduddin Owaisi led AIMIM (All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen) to enter the electoral fray in Bihar has the potential of changing the political fortunes of the two main contenders, NDA and

Now the danger is that the BJP may perform poorly in 2015 Assembly elections if Muslims of the region opt for tacit voting to defeat the saffron party the way they did it in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

And that's where Asaduddin Owaisi's entry may prove to be game changer in the region. Any kind of division in Muslim votes in Seemanchal will directly help the BJP. That's the reason why the “grand alliance” believes that the BJP has deliberately invited Owaisi to Bihar so that Muslim votes could be divided.  

Owaisi, however, has strongly denied any pact with BJP. He has, in fact, warned his opponents of dragging them to court of law if they make what he calls “baseless allegations”.

And Owaisi has his own valid points. Agreed that his entry will result in division of Muslim votes but as a political party, AIMIM has all the rights to contest elections in any state. One can't expect Owaisi to bury his political ambitions just to safeguard the interest of some of the so-called “secular” parties of India.

The debate over the real intentions of Owaisi behind throwing his hat in the battle for Bihar will continue to grab the headlines till the Assembly elections are over.  But  keeping in mind the electoral history of Seemanchal, its very logical to argue that the sudden entry of Owaisi's AIMIM in Bihar elections may tilt the balance in favour of BJP led NDA.