Asad Owaisi demands development council for Seemanchal region

All India Majlis-e- Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi today demanded that a 'Seemanchal Region Development Council' be set up to end the backwardness in the said region of Bihar. "It is quite impossible to bring all-round development in the region without the setting up of a Seemanchal Region Development Council. It would work to end backwardness and misery of the region," Owaisi said at an election meeting at Bishanpur in Kochadhaman Assembly constituency, where AIMIM's state unit chief, Akhtarul Iman, is a contestant. Seemanchal -- the northeastern part of Bihar comprising the Araria, Katihar, Kishanganj and Purnea districts -- votes in the fifth and final phase of polling in the state on November 5. Holding JD(U), RJD and Congress -- which make up the grand secular alliance -- responsible for the region's backwardness, Owaisi allleged that the leaders of these parties used Muslims as a 'vote bank' and did nothing for either the development of the community or the region. But now AIMIM would give the region and its people their due respect and rights, he said. Referring to BJP and a recent statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he would lay down his life to protect the reservation for SC, ST and OBCs, Owaisi said, "Mr Prime Minister, you need not lay down your life for anything. We wish you a long life... But this time, people of Bihar, especially those of Seemanchal, will not be influenced by your rhetoric." Owaisi also wondered why no case was lodged against BJP chief Amit Shah for his comment that firecrackers would be burst in Pakistan if NDA lost the election in Bihar even as he said that an arrest warrant was issued against his brother Akbaruddin Owaisi for a comment against the Prime Minister. The AIMIM chief said that people in Seemanchal would vote for his party to protect their rights and end the injustice meted to them. Owaisi's party has fielded six candidates in Seemanchal region. Altogether 57 Assembly constituencies, including 24 seats in Seemanchal, go to polls in the fifth and final phase of polling. The counting of votes will be held on November 8.