All the political parties are in alert mode regarding the assembly elections in Bihar. All the parties have started preparations for the assembly elections. Seemanchal is one area of ​​Bihar where all the political parties of the state have paid special attention. In such a situation, a big question has arisen in the politics of the state, whether Seemanchal is going to become the battle ground of the state in the coming days?
Four Lok Sabha, 24 Assembly seats
Actually, Seemanchal is a region of Bihar, bordering West Bengal on one side and Nepal on the other. The entire area is dominated by minority population. After Ladakh, Kishanganj area of ​​Seemanchal is the second district in the country with the highest minority density. However, Ladakh has Buddhists while Kishanganj has Muslims. Seemanchal includes Kishanganj, Araria, Purnia and Katihar districts. These are four Lok Sabha seats.
If we look at it in terms of assembly seats, there are 24 assembly seats in these four Lok Sabha constituencies. About 60 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the last assembly elections.
Majority of Muslim population
According to the caste-based census conducted in the state, around 17.70 percent are Muslims, while 81.99 percent are Hindus. In the four Lok Sabha constituencies of Seemanchal, Kishanganj, Araria, Katihar and Purnia, the Muslim population is 68, 43, 45 and 39 per cent respectively. Kishanganj is the district with the largest Muslim population. BJP got significant success in these districts in the last assembly elections.
Out of these 24 seats, BJP got success in 8 seats. While Congress got five seats, JDU four, CPI (ML) one and RJD one. The most surprising thing was that Asaduddin Owaisi’s party AIMIM achieved unprecedented success in this election and won five assembly seats.
However, four out of five MLAs from Owaisi’s party later switched parties and joined the RJD. In this way, the seats of JDU and RJD became equal among the parties that won in Seemanchal.
Seemanchal has been special
How special Seemanchal has been in the politics of Bihar can be estimated from the fact that in the Lok Sabha elections held this year, the Home Minister himself started the election campaign from Purnia across Bihar. Apart from this, CM Nitish Kumar also started from this place. Apart from this, when Nitish Kumar left the NDA last year, he held a meeting with Tejashwi Yadav and other Mahagathbandhan leaders in Purnia itself.
All parties are strategizing
The importance of Seemanchal politics can be inferred from the fact that all the political parties of the state have started staking their political bets in this area. Not only are their issues related to development and other matters, they also do not shy away from accusing each other. All the political parties in the state got a shock recently when the Lok Sabha elections and then the assembly by-elections were held in Rupauli, Purna. Because then independent Pappu Yadav won the Lok Sabha seat and independent Shankar Singh Rupauli won the seat. Since then there has been unrest among all parties over the boundary.
Everyone has equal weight
AIMIM is busy consolidating its hold in Seemanchal. Strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, who is gearing up to launch his party from October 2, is also in focus. Congress party which won two Lok Sabha seats from this Seemanchal is also paying special attention. Between RJD and JDU, when RJD made Bima Bharti, who lost from Purnia Lok Sabha, the party’s state vice-president, JDU also made Kaladhar Mandal, who lost from Rupauli, the party’s state vice-president.
The current state president of BJP hails from Seemanchal. Looking at the math of all these multiplications, one can easily estimate how serious the political parties are about the border.
Big influence of Nitish and JDU in Seemanchal
Regarding her party’s preparations in Seemanchal, JDU senior spokesperson Nihora Prasad Yadav says that Bihar assembly elections are going to be held in 2025 and all political parties are focusing especially on Seemanchal. Seemanchal is an area where people are confident that we will get seats but the influence of Nitish Kumar and JDU has increased in Seemanchal. A good effect was seen in the Seemanchal area in the Lok Sabha elections.
The RJD is also making efforts as their faith in the MY equation on which the RJD contested the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls has weakened. The Pasmanda Muslims of that area were strongly opposed to the RJD. He not only opposed RJD but also voted against Congress. The result of which was seen that RJD could not take the seat. Development is the most important aspect in Bihar. This has been accomplished under the leadership of NDA government Nitish Kumar. Be it Simanchal or other parts of Bihar, NDA has influence in all parts. No matter how hard you try, NDA will get a massive majority in the coming elections.
Running a special campaign
Seemanchal is politically very important, says BJP spokesperson Kuntal Krishna. Seemanchal, also called Chicken Neck, has 24 seats. Only BJP and NDA will win those 24 seats in the upcoming assembly elections. We have made special preparations for this. We are also running a special campaign in Seemanchal. We are conveying to the people through our workers the plans that are going on especially for Seemanchal. We are also constantly talking to the beneficiaries of our schemes, we are in constant touch with them.
He said that the development of Seemanchal is our priority. Seemanchal also understands that the BJP and NDA governments see Seemanchal not only as a vote bank. For us Seemanchal is the part of Bihar where development is necessary and we will develop there.
Constantly struggling
RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmed said that be it Seemanchal or Mithilanchal, Magadha or Madhya Bihar, everywhere we are advancing its programs according to the policies of the party and exposing the government. They are exposing the way in which no work is being done for public interest in the government departments. No work has been done in Seemanchal. We kept asking the government for a permanent solution to the floods but nothing was done. The condition of education has become very bad. The government is not paying attention to infrastructure and development. Seemanchal could have become an industry hub. Tea and cotton industries could have been strengthened. Could have done better in vegetable production.
The RJD leader said that Seemanchal is inhabited by people of minority community and the mindset of the BJP-ruled people towards them is clearly visible. RJD is conducting daily programs through its organization. Everyday people are struggling and agitating on their issues for the benefit of the people. The public is also standing with us. Some people only run programs on occasion. We have always been connected with the public and have been highlighting public issues.
We raised the issues of Seemanchal
Thanks to the people of Seemanchal for giving us victory in the Kishanganj by-election in 2019, says AIMIM National Spokesperson Adil Hasan. At that time the mother of the then MP was contesting the elections and she lost. In 2020, our party won five assemblies on its own. Since then we have been steadily strengthening our roots. Even after losing the Lok Sabha, we got 3.15 lakh votes in Kishanganj. In 10 years our journey is moving from Seemanchal to Patna. We have started membership for Muslims and Dalits.
Adil Hasan said that there is no issue of border in which we have not raised our voice. Akhtrul Iman was the first to raise his voice for Madrasa Azizia. Whenever there was mob lynching of Muslims and injustice to Dalits in Bihar, we were the first to raise our voice. We talked only on Aligarh Muslim University. We raised our voice for the improvement of bridges, culverts, medical colleges and schools in Seemanchal. We will contest the elections with great strength in the upcoming Assembly.
Workers’ Army in Bihar
However, Congress spokesperson Rajesh Rathore says that at the time of elections, no political party prepares for elections in one area of ​​any state. Congress is making election time preparations in Seemanchal, Mithilanchal, Magadh, Champaran, Shahabad. Congress is strongly preparing the army of workers across Bihar so that India Airlines can form the government with a huge majority with a better performance in the upcoming assembly elections.
Seemanchal can give a big message
The political nature of Seemanchal needs to be understood, says senior journalist Sanjay Upadhyay. If any party gets the votes of the minority community in Seemanchal, it can send a message to the whole of Bihar that the minority votes are with us. However, it remains to be seen in the future how much the minority vote will support which party? But it is certain that all political parties have already started attracting minority votes.
