In Bihar’s Kishanganj, Tausif Alam, candidate of Asaduddin Owaisi’s party AIMIM, hosted a biryani feast for supporters ahead of filing his nomination on Thursday.
The video, which went viral as supporters turned up in large numbers, has evoked various reactions on social media.
One X user said, "Just shows the pathetic condition of people. Has anyone checked their papers/documents? These seem to be more like the illegal migrants we have rather than resident Indians."
While another said,"Or maybe just another reminder that in politics, freebies speak louder than manifestos."
Alam, who filed his nomination papers on Thursday at the Kishanganj Sub-Divisional Officer’s office, is contesting to retain his seat for a fifth term. Before the nomination, a prayer ceremony was held at his residence where biryani was served to attendees.
However, the event took an unexpected turn as the crowd surged toward the food counter and this led to a chaos. The footage shows people pushing and shoving in a bid to get biryani.
However, the AIMIM candidate denied the allegations. “It was a Fatiha Khwani ceremony where biryani was prepared as part of the religious ritual. Just as people distribute prasad after the Hanuman Chalisa, this was our offering. Permission was granted for 2,000 people, but the public’s love was so overwhelming that the crowd grew much larger," he told Patna Press.
Kishanganj is the only district of northeast Bihar where the Muslim population is over 68%. It was also the only parliamentary seat that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) lost in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
In the 2020 Assembly elections, Congress’s Ijaharul Husain won the seat with 61,078 votes, followed by Sweety Singh of BJP with 59,697 votes. AIMIM’s Qamrul Hoda finished third with 41,904 votes.
The two-phase Bihar election will be held on November 6 and 11. Votes will be counted on November 8.
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