NEW DELHI: The Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) on Saturday announced it will contest the upcoming Bihar assembly elections, aiming to provide a “alternative” to voters in a state traditionally dominated by the JD(U)-BJP and RJD-Congress blocs.“Our plan is to contest 100 seats. Both the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan will be forced to realise our presence,” AIMIM state president Akhtarul Iman told PTI.The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which governs Bihar, comprises the JD(U), BJP, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Hindustani Awam Morcha, while the opposition Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) includes the RJD, Congress, and the three Left parties.“It is now common knowledge that I had written to the RJD leadership, expressing willingness for a tie-up. But no response came. Now, we must do all that we can to expand our footprints. Yes, we are also in talks with like-minded parties to explore the possibility of a third front. It will all be clear in a few days,” Imam added.He also argued that the Mahagathbandhan, which in 2020 had accused AIMIM of splitting the “secular votes,”, can therefore no longer accuse it of being the BJP’s “B team.”In the 2020 Bihar assembly polls, AIMIM had fielded candidates in 20 seats, contesting in alliance with former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party and the now-abolished Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, headed by ex-Union minister Upendra Kushwaha, who has since floated a new outfit, Rashtriya Lok Morcha, and merged it with the JD(U) in the NDA.The Owaisi-led party, a state party based in Hyderabad, Telangana, with a presence in a few other states including Bihar, had performed creditably, winning five seats and impacting Mahagathbandhan’s performance in several other assembly segments.In 2022, however, four of the five MLAs joined the RJD, leaving only Iman himself as the party’s sole legislator.Muslims account for nearly 18 per cent of Bihar’s over 13 crore population, according to the 2022 state census.The elections for the 243-member Bihar assembly are scheduled for November 6 and 11, with vote counting on November 14.