Janata Dal-United is on an overdrive to do the damage control post party’s support to the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2025, which the Opposition RJD has lapped up to build a strong narrative against it in the run up to Assembly election. On Tuesday, the party organised an Eid Milan programme with Taj Mahal as theme at the residence of MLC Dr Khalid Anwar.
The Eid Milan has been timed after the passage of the Bill so that a strong message could be sent across the state that Muslims are still gathering around the party, especially as the exit of some JD(U) Muslim leaders last week had suggested that the party’s grip among Muslims could loosen. Interestingly, there was no opposition from the Imarat-e-Sharia, most prominent Muslim outfit of the state, that had gave a call to boycott the Iftar dawat hosted by chief minister Nitish Kumar.
Senior JD-U leaders say that the real impact would be visible only during the election, and not through the rhetoric of the Opposition. JD-U Muslim leaders had also held a Press Conference to counter the Opposition narrative built around resignation of some leaders over party’s support to the Waqf Bill.
“The Opposition is trying to build a narrative around Waqf Bill that Nitish Kumar is anti-Muslim and that may harm the JD-U. We are working on a mechanism to counter it effectively, as Kumar’s long tenure has all along been replete with welfare initiatives for all sections of Muslims and most importantly an atmosphere of communal harmony that he has been able to develop in the state. Taj Mahal is a world heritage and a symbol of love and peace and next to its picture is the photo of our leader, who also symbolises the same. He will also be here,” said Anwar.
Admitting that despite all the good work for the Muslims, the JD(U) could not be their first choice in Bihar in voting, he said that despite that the love and respect for Nitish Kumar among the Muslims always remained huge due to the work he has done. “Now, I feel that Opposition is trying to harm the JD(U) by painting it anti-Muslim, which we need to counter effectively and we will do it. This get-together will be an occasion to overcome whatever misgivings Muslims may have about party’s stand on Waqf Bill and there is no other person better than Nitish Kunar to do so,” he added.
Minority welfare minister Jama Khan, who also visited Anwar’s residence, said that whatever apprehensions Muslims might have, Nitish Kumar would try to address their grievances, as he had been doing all through with his work blending development with communal harmony and brotherhood.
Eminent historian and former director of Khuda Baksh Library Prof Imtiyaz Ahmad said it was a misconception that Muslim voted en bloc for the JD(U) or any other party. “The reality is that there is as much fragmentation in Muslim votes as is the case with other communities. It is very difficult to predict who will vote which way. As far as Nitish Kumar is concerned, he has always carried the image of good governance, peace and tolerance. One or two incidents do happen in everyone’s life, but they could not be seen as factors capable of wiping out everything,” he added.
Pasmanda Muslim Samaaj national convenor and Pasmanda Mansuri Development Research Foundation (PMDRF) director Firoz Mansuri said that there was no need for the JD(U) to be defensive, as a large chunk of Pasmanda Muslims would also assess what they had got with Waqf all these years and what had Nitish Kumar done for them despite being aware that JD(U) was not the preferred choice for them.
“Be it 2014, when Nitish Kumar fought the Lok Sabha election on his own, or 2020, when the party fielded 11 Muslim candidates in the state elections, the party never got the support. All the 11 Muslim candidates lost in 2020, while in 2014 the party was reduced to just two seats. Between 2006 and 2014, five Muslims were sent to Rajya Sabha, including four from the Pasmanda community. He worked consistently since 2005 for Pasmanda Muslims, but had to face let down and now is the time for Muslims, especially the backwards among them, to think afresh,” he added.
The data of the CSDS also vouch for it. In 2019 Lok Sabha election, nearly 90% Muslims voted for the RJD-led alliance, even though the JD-U had got 78% Muslim votes when it contested the state polls in alliance with the RJD in 2015 to stop the BJP juggernaut at the peak of Narendra Modi wave.
