Akhtarul Iman (born 7 March 1964) is an Indian politician from the state of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. He is a member of 17th

Bihar Legislative Assembly The Bihar Legislative Assembly, also known as the Bihar Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of the bicameral Bihar Legislature of the state of Bihar in India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is ...

, representing the Amour seat as MLA. He is also the Bihar State President of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).

Political career

1985–2015

Akhtarul Iman said that he entered politics when he was a student. In 1985, he joined a campaign led by ''Moulana Mohammad Hai'' against burglars and dacoits. Iman said that he joined the campaign as "the police and administration were hand in glove with them." In Bihar Assembly Elections February 2005, he contested from Kishanganj on a

Rashtriya Janata Dal The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD; translation: National People's Party) is an Indian political party, mainly based in the state of Bihar. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav. The party's support base has traditionally been Other ...

ticket and was elected. He also retained the seat in October 2005 election as well and remained as MLA of Kishanganj till 2010. In 2010 he was elected as MLA from Kochadhaman and resigned in 2014. In February 2013, when students were being made to do the

Yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

Asana of Surya Namaskar (allegedly bowing down to Hindu sun God Surya), Iman said that the government was trying to implement the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

(a Hindu right wing organization) ideology in the state. In 2014, he left

(RJD) and joined Janata Dal (United). He contested from the Kishanganj seat as JD(U) candidate for the 16th Lok Sabha and lost the election to Asrarul Haq Qasmi.

2015–present

In August 2015, Iman joined

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

based All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and in November 2015, Iman was made a candidate for the party from the Kochadhaman seat in the

2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election The Legislative Assembly election was held over five phases in Bihar through October–November 2015 before the end of the tenure of the prior Legislative Assembly of Bihar on 29 November 2015. In April 2015, the Janata Parivar Alliance group ...

. In the rallies, the party workers hailed him as ''Sher-e-Bihar'' (Tiger of

) and was projected as Bihar's

Asaduddin Owaisi Asaduddin Owaisi (born 13 May 1969) is an Indian politician who is serving as the third and current president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) since 2008. He is a five time Member of Parliament (India), Member of Parliame ...

(the party's national chief). He said that if people of the Paswan and

Yadav Yadavs are a grouping of non-elite, peasant-pastoral Quote: "The Yadavs were traditionally a low-to-middle-ranking cluster of pastoral-peasant castes that have become a significant political force in Uttar Pradesh (and other northern states l ...

community can have their own political parties, then Muslims should also have their own. He was also the party's president for Bihar state. However, he lost the election to Mujahid Alam of Janata Dal (United). Iman polled 37,000 votes compared to Alam's 56,000. In the Indian general election, 2019 Iman was a candidate for the AIMIM from the Kishanganj seat but he lost to Mohammad Jawed. Iman became an MLA from Amour constituency in the 2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly election.

Positions held

Akhtarul Iman has served 4 times as MLA.

References

Living people Bihar MLAs 2000–2005 Bihar MLAs 2005–2010 All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen politicians Rashtriya Janata Dal politicians Janata Dal (United) politicians People from Kishanganj district Bihar MLAs 2020–2025 Magadh University alumni 1964 births {{All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen