MADHEPURA/KISHANGANJ, Sept. 20 -- With political parties reaching out to Muslims of the state, especially in Kosi and Seemanchal regions where they are in the maximum concentration, youths of the community are asserting their unusual demand -- more political representation. Some of them are clear: parties must declare more Muslim candidates before they solicit their votes. Such assertions, according to observers, are so strong that two major claimants of the Muslim votes -- RJD and Congress -- are said to have entered into a tussle how to divide seats in the regions and which sections should be allotted how many seats. The Congress, according to one observer, anticipates more winnable seats because of increased Muslim support for the party than RJD and thus is claiming for a bigger share. On Wednesday, Muslim youth leaders of Kosi region held a press conference at Madhepura and put their demand for fair and better representation of Kosi Muslims in the Bihar assembly. Their gathering took place as RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav was traversing through the area as part of his Bihar Adhikar Yatra. "Tejashwi Yadav is coming in connection with his Adhikar Yatra in Madhepura on Thursday (September 18) and we want him to declare tickets for Muslims," Abujar Khan, a young educated Muslim of Madhepura aspiring to become a leader said, alleging "Muslims have been facing neglect for a long time." He raised the issue of ignoring the son of former chief minister Abdul Ghafoor in giving the ticket after his demise. "After Abdul Ghafoor, Muslims are left with just one MLA in Kosi division," he said, declaring it a 'deep rooted political conspiracy' to marginalise Muslims from mainstream politics. "Now we'll no longer sit idle against our political isolation and we'll no longer play in the hands of self acclaimed secular parties," he said. 45-year-old Mohammad Ali Ansari, an Income Tax lawyer in Kishanganj, alleged, "All political parties, even Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj, eye Muslim as a vote bank but when it comes to giving political participation, they back out." Another Kishanganj resident, 20-year-old Mohammad Hussain Ali Ansari, who is doing CA in Delhi, said, "No political party is generous enough when it comes to award tickets to Muslims and this is why in Bihar we have just 19 Muslim MLAs even though the numerical strength of the community is far higher." Shahnawaz Johan Salar, another youth leader of the Muslim community in Madhepura, alleged, "Our job has just been reduced to carrying party flags/pamphlets." "The leader with just two per cent population of his caste members is staking the claim on the post of deputy chief minister," he said, while hinting towards Mukesh Sahni, the leader of Vikasheel Insan Party and who toured with Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi during the Voter Adhikar Yatra last month. He said that political parties must be aware that if Muslims are not given proportionate representation this time, they might see Muslims veering away from them. The Kosi division consisting of three districts Saharsa, Madhepura and Supaul has altogether 13 assembly constituencies with just one Muslim MLA Yusuf Salahuddin of RJD from Simri Bakhtiyarpur. Out of 13, JD(U) had bagged 8 seats followed by RJD-3 and BJP-2 in the 2020 assembly election. JD(U) and BJP have no Muslim MLAs while RJD has just one Muslim MLA. In Kosi, there are about 12 lakh Muslims out of around overall 1.50 crore population. Bihar has around 13 crore population with about 2.34 crore Muslims and out of 243 assembly seats, there are 19 Muslim MLAs. Out of 19, 11 are from Muslim-rich Seemanchal....