Bihar BJP attempts to break RJD’s Muslim votes through Pasmanda-OxBig News Network

Bihar unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday (June 30, 2025) organised a joining ceremony of Pasmanda community, a day after Muslims organisation led by Imarat-e-Shariah held a rally at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan to protest against Waqf Act.

Attacking the Opposition party, BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal said that in Bihar, politics has always been done in the name of Muslims, but no real efforts were ever made to uplift the Pasmanda Muslims.

Ahead of the Assembly election, Mr. Jaiswal assured that the BJP will ensure political representation for the Pasmanda. The joining conference was inaugurated by Mr. Jaiswal and Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary.

Among some of the most backward in terms of socio-economic indicators and severely under-represented in jobs, education and electoral politics, Pasmanda Muslims in Bihar constitute over 72% of the State’s Muslim population and come under either the OBC or EBC categories.

They comprise 29.9% of the Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) population in Bihar and over 12% of the State’s entire population — making them an important part of the BJP’s plans in the State to break the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) grip over the Muslim vote. 

While addressing the community members Mr. Jaiswal said that the unique characteristic of the BJP is its commitment of taking all religions, communities, and sections of society along.

“The party works with the slogan “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas”. Although politics has long been played in the name of Muslims, no genuine efforts were made to uplift the Pasmanda Muslims,”Mr. Jaiswal said. 

He asserted the very term Pasmanda means “those who were left behind,” but no one tried to bring them forward and they have faced continuous discrimination.

“Most importantly, while they were frequently used in politics, they were never given political representation, “he added. 

Dr. Jaiswal asserted that vote-bank politics has made the lives of Pasmanda Muslims miserable and the level of discrimination they faced has affected multiple generations.

Praising BJP, he added that it was only after the National Democratic Alliance ( NDA) government came to power that reservations were extended to them. 

Mr. Choudhary echoed the same and accused Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of using the Muslim vote bank for their own upliftment rather than doing something for the community.

BJP Minority Morcha State President Mohammad Kamruzama Ansari and State Media In-Charge Danish Iqbal were also present and addressed the gathering.

While addressing the gathering, Mr. Iqbal said that Pasmanda Muslims constitute 70 to 80 percent of the total Muslim population, yet they remain backward.

“It is vote-bank politics that has ruined the Pasmanda Muslims. Ironically, it is their own upper class that exploited them — yet this has never been openly discussed,”Mr. Iqbal said. 

He further said that even today, they are denied equal rights and are looked down upon.

“This entire section remains marginalized and the discrimination has been so deep-rooted that they were never able to progress. However, since the NDA government came to power both at the Center and in Bihar, efforts have been made to ensure their development in the spirit of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas,”Mr. Iqbal said. 

A large number of individuals from the Pasmanda community joined the BJP and Mr. Jaiswal welcomed them into the party by administering the membership oath.

The function was also attended by BJP Minority Morcha National Media Co-In-charge Noor Alam and Pasmanda community leaders like Ghulam Sarwar Ansari, Sabbir Panwariya, Iqbal Ansari and Hasim Hakku along with hundreds of representatives from various districts of Bihar.