RIYADH, 8 September 2005 — The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led alliance will surely form the next government in politically most crucial Indian state of Bihar, a top RJD leader, Motiur Rahman, said here yesterday.
Bihar will go to polls in four phases — Oct. 18, 26, Nov. 13 and Nov. 19.
Rahman, a member of Parliament, who is in the Kingdom, said the main fight in the northern state is expected to be between the RJD-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the Bharaitya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The Congress party and the RJD are the main constituents of the UPA in Bihar. The NDA in the state consists of mainly Janata Dal-United and the BJP.
Rahman called upon Muslims in particular to vote for secular parties like RJD and Congress to thwart the divisive agendas of the NDA — led by communal parties.
He also urged north Indian expatriates living in the Kingdom to lobby for secular parties and relay messages to their friends and relatives back home to support the RJD-led alliance. He said, “The RJD and the Congress are working with great responsibility to ensure the consolidation of secular votes in Bihar.” He added, “People, specially Muslims should realize that RJD is the largest secular formation in Bihar.”
Rahman was speaking at a community reception hosted in his honor here last night. The reception was also attended by Nepalese Ambassador Abullaish Thakurai.
Rahman, who was twice member of Bihar Assembly, spoke at length about the political and economic situation in India, particularly, Bihar.
When asked about his assessment of the political situation in Bihar, and RJD’s prospect, Rahman said: “We have chalked out a better election plan this time with an agenda that guarantees the development of the people and the state.
“We have also unified the ranks and files of Muslim leadership, who stand united to campaign and convince the minority voters. In fact, the election campaign had already started,” he said.
“Ours is a major political party with capability to fight against the sinister designs of the communal parties, stop saffronization of education and prevent religious violence in India” he said.
On the stand taken by LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, Rahman said: “Paswan will neither succeed in dividing Muslim votes nor attracting backward voters this time. Moreover, I fail to understand why Paswan had made up his mind to contest the Bihar Assembly polls on an anti-RJD and anti-BJP platform.”
Rahman has served on various parliamentary panels like the parliament’s Committee on Information Technology and the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
