Mujahid Alam: JD(U)’s Lone Muslim Candidate From Kishanganj (image-X/mujahidmla)

Out of the 16 candidates announced by Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), there is only one Muslim leader standing for elections from the party. Mujahid Alam has been nominated from Bihar”s Kishanganj Lok Sabha seat, bordering West Bengal, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Alam made his foray into politics in 2010.

The Kishnaganj Lok Sabha constituency comprises Vidhan Sabhas such as Bahadurganj, Thakurganj, Kishanganj, Kochadhaman, Amour, and Baisi. With more than half of the population being Muslim (over 58.14 percent), the Kishanganj Lok Sabha seat has had a Muslim as its MP.

The two-time MLA from Kochadhaman assembly constituency in Kishanganj district was defeated by AIMIM in the 2020 elections. Alam has also served as the District President of the JDU from Kishanganj, the State Vice President, as well as the Vice Chairman of the Bihar State Minority Commission.

Four of the six seats in the constituency are currently held by Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), one each by AIMIM and Congress.

Congress candidate Mohammad Javed has been the MP from Kishnaganj since he won in the 2019 elections with 3.6 lakh votes, followed by JD(U)’s Mahmood Ashraf, who won 3.3 lakh votes. The Kishanganj seat was the only seat Congress won from Bihar in the 2019 elections. In 2009 and 2014 as well, scholar and Congress candidate Asrarul Haque Qasmi won the Lok Sabha seat.

A graduate from Patna College, Alam was elected as a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly in May 2014. He also achieved victory in the Kochadhaman Assembly by-election as a JD(U) candidate. He retained the seat in the Bihar Vidhan Sabha elections in 2015 by defeating AIMIM’s Akhtarul Iman. However, in the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, he lost the seat to Izhar Asfi of AIMIM.

Under the leadership of Nitish Kumar, the JD(U) rejoined the NDA alliance in January, following an 18-month alliance with Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD.