Sunday Interview: ‘RJD, JD(U), Congress use Muslims for votes, but they can’t stand a Muslim face’

As Bihar heads to a tight election, there is speculation that the newly-formed six-party third front, led by the Samajwadi Party, will only help the Bharatiya Janata Party win. The senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Tariq Anwar, who is this front’s candidate for chief minister of Bihar, tells Nayear Azad in an interview that his third front in Bihar will play a significant role in the Assembly election.

What are the factors that led to the formation of a third front in Bihar?
Grand Secular Alliance was formed to stop communal forces from coming to power. Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav played a very significant role in bringing all secular forces together. We were supporting Janata Dal (United)-Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress grand alliance, but the leaders of the alliance didn’t even have the minimum courtesy to consult us before deciding on the seats. They ignored us and distributed seats among themselves.
Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav felt insulted by their attitude. So he then decided to give a third option to the state.

But your party was offered three seats.
I only came to know about it through media. We were not officially informed about it. Later we found out the leaders of grand secular alliance wanted us (the NCP and the Samajwadi Party) to share those three seats. I still fail to understand the criteria of seat distribution. In my view, the criteria should have been Lok Sabha polls in which our party won one seat, the JD(U) won two seats and the RJD four seats. I was told that they had decided to use 2010 Assembly election as the criteria to distribute seats for the 2015 Assembly elections. In 2010, the situation was different as the JD(U) was in an alliance with the BJP.

Who do you hold responsible for this split — Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad Yadav or the Congress?
All three of them are responsible for this split. Why was the Congress given 40 seats? Our party’s performance in the Lok Sabha polls was better than the Congress but all the three parties sidelined us. They will get the answer in the coming Assembly elections. They have been using Muslims as votebank but they can’t stand a Muslim face.

Do you consider yourself a Muslim face?
I see myself as a secular leader. But it is a fact that the so-called secular forces never respect Muslims. They use them during elections and then conveniently ignore them. Are the leaders of the grand secular alliance willing to give the deputy chief minister’s post to any minority? They only talk about minorities but will never share power with them.

You have been declared the chief ministerial candidate by the third front. Do you think your alliance is playing the Muslim card by projecting you as CM candidate?
I have been declared as the chief ministerial candidate due to my seniority. We want to change the course of politics in the state. The RJD, the JD(U) and the BJP have been given chances to prove themselves in Bihar but they didn’t perform well. Even at the national level, the performance of NDA government is not satisfactory. Thus, we have given a third option. As far as Muslims are concerned, I am confident that Muslims will unite and support our alliance. They now have an option where a person from their community is being projected as a chief ministerial candidate.

Don’t you think this newly formed secular front will split votes and help the BJP?
There is anti-incumbency. Muslims now don’t want to go back to Nitish Kumar. By forming this third front, we will be able keep secular vote intact. Not a single Muslim vote will go to the NDA.

What about Asaduddin Owaisi?
No, we can’t be compared to Mr Owaisi. Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav has a secular image. Mr Owaisi tries to polarise Muslim votes through his style and speeches. However, instead of polarising Muslims through his speeches Hindu votes get polarised. Secondly, he has given a wrong message by announcing that his party will contest from only Muslim-dominated pockets. So I don’t think Mr Owaisi’s coming to Bihar will split Muslim votes.

There is also an impression about Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav clandestinely helping the BJP because he has a few CBI cases pending against him.
There is no truth in this. Do you think a leader like
Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav can be pressured? He has always stood against the communal forces and the BJP. We all know his stand on the Ram Mandir issue. He has always taken a secular view; we have formed this alliance to stop the communal forces from coming to power.

When will people know about the agenda of your alliance?
Our development agenda will be known through our Vision 2020 document. It will clarify all doubts about our development plan. Mr Nitish Kumar’s seven promises and his so-called vision are very old. He is misleading people with his false promises. We will expose them.

What will be your model of development? Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had said that the Uttar Pradesh model is the best model to develop Bihar.
Importance should be given to development but then I also agree with Mr Akhilesh Yadav that the condition in both states are more or less similar. If Uttar Pradesh has developed then I don’t see any harm in following its development model. To develop Bihar, I will not mind looking at other states for the measures they took in developing.

It seems that your alliance has become a dumping ground for rebels from other parties. Leaders who were rejected by the JD(U) and the RJD are joining your alliance.
No, I don’t agree. Despite time constraint leaders are turning to us and we will play an important role in the coming election.

But most of your partners are either new or have no base in Bihar at all.
When Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal can do it why can’t we? Despite all kind of negative propaganda against him, he established his party in Delhi and won the election. He has proved how to establish a new party within a short span of time and we are going to do it in the same way. People accepted him and they will accept us as well.