AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi to campaign for Dumri bypoll in Jharkhand

Ranchi: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi will visit Jharkhand on Tuesday to campaign for his party's candidate in the by-election to the Dumri assembly seat.

The AIMIM has fielded Md Abdul Mobin Rizvi for the Dumri bypoll, which is being seen as a fight between the ruling JMM and BJP-supported AJSU Party.

"Owaisi will arrive in Ranchi around 8 pm. On Wednesday, he will address a public rally at the KV High School Ground in Dumri in support of the AIMIM candidate," the party's state unit president Md Shakir told PTI.

The polling for the by-election will be held on September 5, and the votes will be counted on September 8.

The by-election was necessitated due to the death of JMM MLA Jagarnath Mahto, the former education minister, in April. The JMM has fielded Mahto's wife Bebi Devi as the candidate of the INDIA bloc, while the AJSU Party has nominated Yashoda as the NDA candidate.

Besides Chief Minister Hemant Soren, senior leaders of the Congress and RJD are campaigning for the JMM candidate. They are hopeful of retaining the seat riding on the emotional wave over Mahto's death.

The NDA is hopeful of bagging the constituency with its campaign mainly focussing on the allegations of failures of the JMM-led government in the state.

Shakir, however, exuded confidence in winning the by-election, pointing to the significant minority voters in the constituency.

"We are confident about the victory of the AIMIM candidate. Around 50 per cent of voters are Muslims, Dalits and tribals. We are hopeful of getting their votes," he said.

"There are about 30 per cent Muslim voters in the constituency, and they are not ready to be used as vote bank only," he added.

In the 2019 assembly elections, Mahto defeated AJSU Party's Yashoda Devi by a margin of 34,288 votes. AIMIM's Rizvi was in the fourth position with 24,132 votes.

"Owaisi's rally will be a boost for our party workers," he Shakir said.