Patna (Bihar): As the Assembly elections in Bihar near, apart from the traditional heavyweights, even large parties from other states continue to seek their support base, even if victory seems extremely far-fetched for them.
The Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Trinamool Congress, and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha are among the parties who might be unable to win any seats, but will have a role to play in 'cutting' of votes.
SP, BSP, NCP still searching for their place in Bihar
Tariq Anwar had left the Congress in 1999. Along with Sharad Pawar and PA Sangma, Anwar laid the foundation of the NCP. Pertinently, Tariq Anwar was also an MP from Bihar's Katihar. However, ever since Anwar left the NCP in 2018, the party became even more marginalised in Bihar. On the other hand, the situation of Samajwadi Party and BSP is also pretty similar.
Parties won no seats in 2015
In the 2015 assembly elections, the Samajwadi Party, AIMIM, and JMM contested, but did not manage to win even a single seat. The JMM had fielded candidates for 32 seats and the Samajwadi Party for 135 seats. Owaisi's party had contested on six seats in Seemanchal. Apart from this, parties from other states also fielded candidates, but could not succeed.
Samajwadi Party's performance
On the other hand, even the performance of the Samajwadi Party has been on a downward slope since 2005. In the 2005 assembly elections, the SP fielded candidates for 142 seats, of which it managed to win four. However, the SP could not win a single seat in the 2010 and 2015 elections.
JMM disappointed
From the neighbouring state of Jharkhand, the JMM tasted success only on one occasion. JMM had fielded its candidates for 41 seats in the 2010 assembly elections, in which the party had won one seat. After this, JMM fielded candidates for 32 seats in the 2015 Bihar Assembly Elections, but was not successful even on a single seat.
Read: 15 yrs of Lalu vs 15 yrs of Nitish: Bihar still awaits large investments
Will Owaisi be victorious?
AIMIM supremo Asaduddin Owaisi is fast emerging as the fire brand leader of Muslims. Owaisi's eye is on Seemanchal, a Muslim populated region of Bihar. AIMIM, which contested only 6 seats in 2015, has decided to field candidates for 50 seats so far this time.
Pertinently, Owaisi's party had managed to open its account in the by-elections last year in Bihar. After the Lok Sabha elections, his party's candidate Kamarul Hoda won the election from Kishanganj Assembly seat of Bihar.
Though AIMIM has a political graph among Muslim voters in Seemanchal area of Bihar, outside the region, neither the party has any support base nor does the party see organisation.
Reduced activism of parties after elections
However, despite their limited success, the parties from other states are once again preparing to field their candidates in multiple seats in Bihar. However, the parties tend to become less active after elections in Bihar.
Read: Bihar polls: LJP to contest on 143 seats
What do experts say?
According to political experts, the parties are involved in the election of other states for their political expansion. However, due to the lack of mass base, they are busy collecting money by selling tickets in the elections.
How many votes did vote cutting parties obtain in 2015?
| Party | Votes | Vote Percentage |
| SP | 13,592 | 1.7% |
| BSP | 13,588 | 1.5% |
| AIMIM | 6063 | 0.7% |
| NCP | 2653 | 0.3% |
| SKLP | 2250 | 0.3% |
| JMM | 3381 | 0.4% |
