Aurangzeb Divides NDA In Bihar

JD-U leader praises Mughal, angers BJP.

IMAGE: Janata Dal-United legislator Khalid Anwar with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Photograph: Kind courtesy Dr Khalid Anwar

Mughal emperor Aurangzeb has been dead for 318 years but continues to heat up Bihar politics ahead of the 2025 assembly polls.

After Khalid Anwar, a Janata Dal-United member of the Bihar legislative council, described Aurangzeb as 'achcha sashak (good ruler)', questioned Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi's suspension from the Maharashtra assembly's Budget session for praising Aurangzeb and termed it wrong, JD-U MLA Sanjeev Kumar and Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul demanded that Anwar be sent to Pakistan.

Khalid Anwar is considered close to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and seen as the JD-U's Muslim face.

"It is very wrong for anyone to praise Aurangzeb, who was an extremely cruel ruler. He was anti-Hindu and massacred Hindus. Khalid Anwar should be sent to Pakistan, Bangladesh or Gaza for praising Aurangzeb," demanded Sanjeev.

IMAGE: JD-U MLA Sanjeev Kumar with Nitish Kumar. Photograph: Kind courtesy, Dr Sanjeev Kumar/Facebook

"He may be a JD-U MLC but it is a matter of mindset. Everyone knew that Aurangzeb was a cruel ruler, who killed Hindus, and destroyed temples," said BJP MLA Haribhushan Thakur who wants the JD-U to expel Khalid Anwar and for his legislative council membership to be cancelled for praising Aurangzeb.

Another senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Tarkishor Prasad said Anwar should not praise Aurangzeb and was wrong to support Azmi.

"I simply said that in my view Aurangzeb was a good ruler, who ruled as per his style. It was wrong to suspend any MLA for saying that Aurangzeb was a good administrator," Khalid Anwar said in his defence.

Ahead of this winter's assembly elections, divisions in the ruling National Democratic Alliance over Aurangzeb may create trouble for Nitish Kumar's JD-U among Muslims, who are nearly 17 percent of Bihar's population and seen as traditional voters of the Rashtriya Janata Dal headed by Lalu Prasad.

In an election year, the JD-U is trying to make a dent in the Muslim vote bank to increase its tally from the 2020 election when the JD-U won only 43 assembly seats out of 243, a poor performance by any yardstick.

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com