Patna,(BiharTimes): Though the BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi sees a Congress-Janata Dal(United) conspiracy behind the withdrawal of Akhtar-ul-Iman from Kishanganj parliamentary seat the truth is that he is not the first Muslim ruling party candidate to flee from the battlefield.

On March 24 Sabir Ali, the JD(U)’s candidate from Seohar, did almost the same. The only difference is that he praised Narendra Modi while Akhtar-ul-Iman withdrew stating that he does not want to split the secular (read Muslim) votes.

While Sabir sang paeans in favour of NaMo before the expiry of deadline for withdrawal Akhtar-ul-Iman did it after the date was over. So while Sabir was replaced by Shahid Ali Khan in Seohar, the JD(U), in all practical purpose, lost Kishanganj even before the announcement of results on May 16.
But what has prompted the two Muslim candidates to take some very unusual step?

There is a growing feeling within the community that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has started playing his own politics with the Muslim candidates.

Rightly or wrongly the message spread quick and fast that Nitish is deliberately putting one Muslim candidate against another strong Muslim leader of RJD or Congress to ensure the victory of BJP.

The whole move of the Janata Dal (United) has boomeranged. The announcement of Akhtar-ul-Iman came so close to the second phase of election that it is likely to turn Muslim votes in a big way away from Janata Dal (United).

Though Nitish did everything to woo Muslims after snapping ties with the BJP, his moves were watched closely by the community as he had a very long association with the saffron brigade.

So his decision to put up Akhtar-ul-Iman against the sitting Congress MP and a senior leader of Seemanchal, Maulana Asrar-ul-Haque; Ghulam Ghouse against Abdul Bari Siddiqui in Madhubani and Sabir Ali against Anwar-ul-Haque of RJD has always been looked with suspicion. This is simply because the JD(U) announced its candidates almost 10 days after the RJD and Congress.

Not only that Nitish broke Akhtar-ul-Iman, Ghulam Ghouse and Abu Qaiser from RJD. The last named has been fielded as JD(U) candidate from Bhagalpur at the eleventh hour amidst strong protest from within the JD(U). In fact Samrat Chaudhary or his father Shakuni, both of whom crossed over from RJD, were expecting to get Bhagalpur ticket.

A feeling developed among the community––may be misplaced––that Nitish wanted to ensure the victory of Shahnawaz Husain. So when he felt that RJD’s Bolu Mandal may woo Muslim votes he fielded Qaiser, who in 2010 Assembly election unsuccessfully contested on the RJD ticket.

Similarly, the decision to put Siddiqui in trouble has been taken keeping in mind the fact that the sitting BJP MP from Madhubani, Hukum Deo Narayan Yadav, has a Socialist past and joined the BJP only in 1990s. He too has good relationship with some JD(U) leaders.

Similarly, it is being said that Salim Parwez, the deputy chairman of the Bihar legislative council, has been fielded in Saran to facilitate the victory of Rajiv Pratap Rudy of BJP, who is contesting against former chief minister Rabri Devi.

The Janata Dal (United) could not field any Muslim against RJD’s Tanvir Hasan from Begusarai as this seat is being contested by its alliance partner the CPI.

In Araria too Zakir Husain, who left the LJP only in the first week of March, was fielded against Taslimuddin of RJD, but his name had to be replaced at the final moment.

Only in Siwan and Darbhanga the JD(U) did not field any Muslim candidates against RJD’s Hena Shahab, wife of jailed former MP, Mohammad Shahabuddin, and Mohammad Ali Ashraf Fatmi.

Said political activist Nashoor Ajmal: “The news of JD(U) fielding one Muslim against another to ensure the victory of BJP spread so fast that it made the contest for leaders like Sabir Ali and Akhtar-ul-Iman difficult. They found that there is no takers of Muslim votes in their respective constituency.”

So both Sabir and Akhtar-ul-Iman chose to run away from the battle-field on one pretext or the other, while Ghulam Ghouse and Abu Qaiser, both of whom crossed over from the RJD, are not sure about their political future. The former in particular is finding himself in a very tight position as he actually wanted to contest some where from Champaran but was fielded from Madhubani by the party.