Patna: In a political landscape where women’s participation remains limited, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) has maintained a consistent record of fielding Muslim women candidates in Bihar Assembly elections for nearly two decades. This approach once distinguished the Congress in the state’s early post-Independence years.
For the upcoming Assembly elections, the JD(U) has again nominated Shagufta Azim from the Araria constituency in the Seemanchal region. Azim contested from the same seat in 2020, securing 55,118 votes, which accounted for 29.33 percent of the total. She lost to Congress candidate Avidur Rahman, who received 1.03 lakh votes or 54.84 percent. Araria will go to polls on November 11.
JD(U)’s history of promoting Muslim women leaders includes the election of Razia Khatoon from Kalyanpur in East Champaran and Parveen Amanullah from Sahebpur Kamal in Begusarai in 2010. Amanullah later served as a cabinet minister in the state government. Earlier, in the November 2005 polls, the party had fielded Kehkashan Parveen, then mayor of Bhagalpur, from Kahalgaon. Though she lost the contest, Nitish Kumar later nominated her to the Rajya Sabha.
Before JD(U)’s rise, the Congress had pioneered Muslim women’s representation in Bihar politics. Beula Doza from Barsoi (now Balrampur) in Katihar was elected thrice—1972, 1980, and 1985—on a Congress ticket. The tradition dates back even earlier to Lady Anees Fatima, who made history as the first Muslim woman from Bihar elected to the provincial assembly in 1937.
 continues its two-decade practice of fielding Muslim women in Bihar Assembly elections, reaffirming representation in a field where women remain underrepresented.){kind=link}