Iftar politics hurt JD (U) in Bihar; Lalu, Chirag try to reach out to minorities

With the countdown to Bihar Assembly Elections 2025, Iftar politics has maintained their traditional charm for political parties. They have even added some spice to the poll momentum. After Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, RJD President Lalu Prasad hosted an Iftar party at the residence of former minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui on Monday.

Another iftar party was held at the party office of Union minister and LJP (RV) national president, Chirag Paswan, on Monday which was atttended by CM Kumar and other NDA leaders.

The Iftar hosted by the CM ran into controversy after seven Muslim organisations, including Jamiat Ulema e Hind (Arshad Madni faction) and Imarat e Shariah, Bihar’s most influential Muslim outfit, exhorted common Muslims and leaders to boycott it owing to Nitish Kumar-led JD(U)’s support to the Central government’s upcoming Waqf Bill which Muslims are opposing throughout India. It left JD(U) fuming. “Politics in the name of worship is not right. The CM has been organising iftaar parties for long. Some are doing politics and those opposing it should remember that he (CM) has done a lot of work for the upliftment of minorities,” said Rajya Sabha MP and JD(U) working president, Sanjay Jha.

JD(U) leaders feel that people associated with RJD and Congress were being the opposition to CM’s iftar. “Those who opposed it are the ones associated with the RJD and Congress… They are doing their politics… Iftar party is a worship, and there cannot be politics in it… They just wanted to do politics; they have nothing to do with the welfare of Muslims,” said Union minister Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh.

However, despite the boycott, a large number of Muslims turned up for the iftaar. “The arrival of such a large number of people from all sections and communities at the Iftar Dawat organised at the CM’s residence on Sunday clearly means that Nitish Kumar’s popularity has increased in the Muslim community. The devotion with which people offered Namaz there and prayed for the common man was significant. The message of his massive presence was that he is not a slave of any political party. He likes only those who work for him,” argued Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary.

There is a tradition of political parties hosting Iftar parties during the month of Ramzan. Over the years, with Muslim votes becoming a source of road to power, the Iftar parties have become a sina quo non in political circles.

According to the Bihar caste survey in 2023, Muslims make up a significant 17.7 per cent of the state’s population. While the community is often viewed as inclined against the BJP, Nitish has sought to chip away at that opposition through targeted welfare schemes. By extending reservations and government benefits, such as scholarships, to the OBC (Other Backward Classes) and EBC (Extremely Backward Classes) sections among Muslims, he has attempted to change the notions of a monolithic Muslim identity.

The RJD, a foremost beneficiary of Muslim support, had lost the community’s favour in 2020 election and the party had managed to win only one out of 24 seats scattered in Muslim-majority Seemanchal region. Now, the party doesn’t want to risk to lose out on any plank to woo back the community. Hence, the boycott of CM Kumar’s Iftar was a music to its ears. Its cadres were quick to spread words for enthusiastic gathering for RJD supremo’s Iftar.

“Leaders of all the constituent parties of the Grand Alliance have been invited to attend the Iftar party organised by Lalu Prasad. Apart from this, intellectuals, people from all sections of society and fasting people have been requested to attend the Iftar party,” said RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmed.

Lalu Prasad’s iftar party was however, was marked by absence of Congress newly-appointed president Rajesh Kumar, state Congress in-charge Krishna Allavaru and Vikashsheel Insaan Party leader Mukesh Sahni. RJD leader Abdul Bari Siqqidui defended the absence by saying that “Ramzan is in last phase and they must be attending other Iftar programmes. Some Congress MLAs however came.”

“Lalu Prasad has been organising Iftar parties every year since he became the CM of Bihar in 1990. Minority voters are counted among Lalu Prasad’s core voters. From 1990 till now, RJD’s vote bank has been Muslim-Yadav i.e. MY equation,” said Gyanandera Yadav, associate professor of Sociology, College of Commerce. “Every year, on the pretext of Iftar party, Lalu Prasad tries to give the message to Muslim voters that he is their true sympathiser. And this year crucial assembly elections due, the party has more meaning for him,” he added.

RJD’s alliance partner has also tried to reach out to minorities through the entry of former MP Ali Anwar Ansari, a leader with grassroots connections among Pasmanda Muslims, which make up 80 per cent of Bihar’s Muslim community. Anwar is now with the Congress party.

The RJD has also intensified its politics of Muslim appeasement in Bihar’s Seemanchal region with Tejashwi Yadav attending an iftaar party in Seemanchal on Saturday.

In Seemanchal, Muslims now make up 40-70% of the population in several districts, with Kishanganj recording the highest proportion. This shift has prompted RJD, Congress and AIMIM to vie for dominance in the region, banking heavily on Muslim-majority constituencies.