‘We want to emerge as the secular alternative to Congress’

AURANGABAD: The Owaisi brothers from Hyderabad – Asaduddin, an MP, and Akbaruddin, an MLA from Charminar – are emerging as rock stars among the Muslim youth in Marathwada.

Asaduddin tells HT he wants to present their party, the Majlis-e-ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), as a secular alternative to the Congress. The brothers have been camping in Maharashtra, where they have put up 24 candidates.

The crowd at your rallies is similar to ones seen at PM Narendra Modi’s. To what do you attribute the crowd at your rallies?

I am glad you asked this question because no one in the media has even acknowledged the response we are getting. I think we are offering people real solutions to real problems.

The Congress says you are here only to divide Muslim votes …

During the Lok Sabha polls they [Congress] accused me of ‘sophisticated political sagacity’. And yet they lost so badly in Maharashtra. The fact is that the Congress and the NCP have lost support among all sections including Dalits and OBCS. Only the Muslims voted for them the last time. Does the Congress think that it has an intellectual patent on secularism?

Isn’t your stand at odds with your brother’s statements about teaching Hindus a lesson? Wasn’t that a rather communal statement?

I do not know what my

brother really said, but he went to jail for that and the case is pending in court. But I want to ask why a man like Pravin Togadia, who made such incendiary statements, has gone scot free? There are a dozen cases against him in Maharashtra alone.

So, you are positioning yourself as an alternative for the Muslims against the Congress?

No. We have fielded Dalits, OBCS and members of other communities as well. We will emerge as a secular alternative in this country.

How sure are you that the crowds at your rallies will convert to votes?

No one can be sure how the people will vote. I can just hope that the people will vote for us.

And if you prove to be just a spoiler, as the Congress has alleged?

No one can spoil the game for the Congress more than it has done for itself.

At the end, you hope to emerge as the leader of the Muslim community?

No! The community does not need leaders. It needs servants who will do well by the people. It is a whole gamut of leaders, both religious and political, who have destroyed the community over the years.