Owaisi pitches for Muslim vote; pans both Congress, BJP

Akbaruddin Owaisi, president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in his rally at Nagpada ahead of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls sounded an alert to Muslims and said, “We need to be united and we should send our leader in the Assembly, and Parliament.” He asked Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to come on one stage to solve Muslim issues.

Stating that in 70 years of independence, Muslims have faced injustice in education, employment and even basic amenities, he asked, “Did we not support Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Narasimha Rao?” Owaisi blamed all political parties for community backwardness and alleged injustice meted out to its members. Owaisi said Muslim vote is being divided and it would not benefit anyone.

Attacking Congress and NCP, Owaisi said the Mumbai riots took place when they were in power and have since been threatening people if they vote for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena then lot of riots will take place and innocent people will suffer. “From 1992 to 2014, 1,192 riots took place. What did they do to stop the riots? Muslim people will never vote for the people responsible for Babri Masjid demolition.”

Owaisi also accused the Congress party of being responsible for the innocent Muslim students who were wrongly implicated and arrested in the name of terrorism. “If we manage to win even 15 corporators seats, Matoshri and Chaiwala will feel the sting of the snake,” he said.

Owaisi stated that if someone with 31 per cent and merely 17 crore votes can become Prime Minister of India, why cannot we who are 25 crore in the country. “Despite having a huge population, we are deprived of our basic rights.”

Owaisi slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said, “Do not interfere in our religious issues and stop talking about women’s rights. The woman sufferng the most in the country is your estranged wife. First bring her home and give her justice.”

He alleged that the BJP killed Akhlaque Ahmed in Dadri and scores of others in the country for eating beef, but the same government was responsible for the maximum export of beef worth Rs 76,000 crore. ”Let them ban beef export. They would not do so because it would affect Jain and Malwari businessmen who have been funding the BJP.”