"One-sided love is not going to happen...": Owaisi rules out joining INDIA bloc for upcoming Bihar Assembly elections

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], July 14 (ANI): All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday ruled out joining the INDIA bloc for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, stating that "one-sided love" won't work.
Instead, Owaisi's party is exploring alternatives, including potentially forming a third front. This development comes after Owaisi's party, AIMIM, sent a proposal to join the Mahagathbandhan, led by RJD chief Lalu Yadav, but received a lukewarm response.
"One-sided love is not going to happen. The people of Bihar should understand that the accusations that were made against us were based on lies and were made because they do not want a leader of the poor and oppressed people to become their political leadership," Owaisi while speaking to ANI.
Owaisi expressed his disinterest in joining the INDIA bloc, citing past experiences and accusations against his party as reasons for his decision. AIMIM Bihar president Akhtarul Iman has suggested forming a third front, which Owaisi seems to be considering as a viable alternative.
Owaisi has announced that AIMIM will contest the elections, focusing on the Seemanchal region, where the party has a strong presence.
Owaisi accused the INDIA bloc of not wanting a leader of the poor and oppressed to emerge, implying that they want to maintain their dominance over the people of Bihar.
"They just want you to remain their slaves, to walk behind them with your head bowed," Owaisi added.
Positioning his party as an independent political force, Owaisi said AIMIM is prepared to contest the upcoming elections on its own terms and "form a third front."
He said, "We will fight our elections well. Our president, Akhtarul Iman, has said that we should try to form a third front. This was an effort from our side. Everything has come before the people of Bihar for a reason."
Earlier, while speaking to ANI in Hyderabad, Owaisi also questioned the Election Commission of India's (ECI) authority to determine citizenship and criticised the body for not making official statements, instead relying on anonymous sources.
He said, "It is unfortunate that a constitutional body is not making a statement and things are being revealed through sources. Who are these sources? Who gave the ECI the power to determine whether someone is a citizen or not? Our party was the first to say that SIR is NRC through the back door."
Supreme Court on July 10 allowed ECI to continue Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls while advising them to consider allowing Aadhaar, ration cards, and electoral photo identity cards as admissible documents to prove voter identity.
The decision of SIR comes ahead of Bihar elections which are expected to be held later this year in October or November; however, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not announced an official date.
While the NDA, consisting of the BJP, JD(U), and LJP, will once again be looking to continue their stint in Bihar, the INDIA bloc, consisting of the RJD, Congress, and left parties, will be looking to unseat Nitish Kumar.
In the current Bihar Assembly of 243 members, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) consists of 131 with the BJP having 80 MLAs, JD(U)-45, HAM(S)-4, with the support of 2 Independent Candidates.
The Opposition's INDIA Bloc has a strength of 111 members with RJD leading with 77 MLAs, Congress-19, CPI(ML)-11, CPI(M)-2 and CPI-2. (ANI)