PURNIA, Nov. 22 -- All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi, who is on a two-day visit to Bihar, reached Seemanchal on Friday to express gratitude to the people for their support in the just-concluded assembly elections. The party not only retained all its five seats in Seemanchal but also improved its performance on several others. The party won five seats and performed considerably well on 14 seats that it contested in the Muslim-rich Seemanchal region. It won Kochadhaman and Bahadurganj (both in Kishanganj), Baisi and Amour (both in Purnea), and Jokihat in Araria. The party also put up a tough fight in Balrampur, Araria and Kasba. Owaisi's visit coincides the ongoing SIR and the connected controversy. When asked about the SIR in West Bengal, Owaisi said it was for chief minister Mamata Banerjee to comment on the matter, adding that he had "nothing to say on the matter". He, however, thanked the people of Seemanchal for extending immense support to his party in the Bihar election. Meanwhile, the AIMIM has begun strengthening its organisational base in West Bengal's two minority-dominated districts - Malda and Murshidabad - ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls. Though it is not clear whether the party will seek alliance with any party or go solo as it did in Bihar elections. "Our leader Asaduddin Owaisi reached here to express the party's gratitude to the people for their support in the election," Bihar AIMIM president Akhtarul Iman said, adding, "Our party leader keeps his promises even after elections, unlike other leaders." As per his schedule, Owaisi visited Madhepur in Katihar's Balrampur assembly constituency to thank voters despite the party losing the seat. He chose Balrampur because AIMIM candidate Mohammad Adil Hasan lost to Sangita Devi of LJP (RV) by just 389 votes in a triangular contest. Sitting CPI-ML MLA Mehboob Alam finished third. The AIMIM secured 80,070 votes, LJP (RV) 80,459, and CPI-ML 79,141. During his two-day tour, Owaisi would address public meetings in all five constituencies where the party won seats, besides holding meetings in areas where the AIMIM performed well and made the contest triangular. "Owaisi's visit further reinforces the party's commitment to the region, which has a significant minority population and it faces pressing issues such as backwardness, illiteracy and poverty, especially in remote areas where the party has built close rapport with the people," Kishanganj-based political observer Neeraj Kumar said....