HYDERABAD: Soon after announcing its plans to contest assembly elections in West Bengal in 2016, the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi revealed that the party would field candidates in the Bihar elections due next year. Addressing a public meeting in the expansive grounds of Darussalaam, which serves as the partys headquarters, late on Monday night, Owaisi said: Lalu Prasad Yadav is upset because people have called us from many parts of the country. Why are you after us? Bihar was not even in my calculations. But now we (MIM) will go there. I will go to Seemanchal and appeal to Bihars public. Reiterating that the party is keen on increasing its presence in Uttar Pradesh, Owaisi said that it has its offices set up in 15 districts of the state. Taking a potshot at Mulayam Singh Yadavs birthday celebrations, Owaisi said, Samajwadi Party workers were pushing each other for the cake. We (Muslims) do not want leftovers. The Hyderabad MP also criticized Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh for allegedly calling the Owaisi brothers snakes. He implied that the Congress party had done little for the Muslims in the past 65 years even as he alleged that the party had taken the Muslim voters for granted. He said that the MIM had won just two seats in Maharashtra assembly elections, but the reactions evinced were extreme. He noted that Congress had received a battering in the elections because it had lost the trust of the electorate. How is it my fault if you have lost? When was the last time a Muslim was elected as an MP in Madhya Pradesh, Owaisi questioned. Owaisi challenged Singh to prove that recently elected MIM legislators from Maharashtra Waris Pathan Khan and Imiyaz Jaleel were not present in the assembly during the trust vote. Why are you lying? If you cannot do this, we will ask our MLAs to file a privilege motion petition with the Maharastra speaker stating that a person has alleged that we were not in the assembly and that an investigation be taken up in the matter, Owaisi said. Touching upon the BJPs plans to celebrate Raja Mahendra Pratap Singhs birth anniversary in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), which finds itself in the eye of a storm, Owaisi alleged that the BJP intends to destroy the minority character of the varsity. They cannot stand the fact that thousands of Muslims are pursuing an education there, Owaisi said. While acknowledging that Singh was a great freedom fighter, Owaisi said that Nizam had given Rs 1 lakh to AMU and Rs 5 lakh to Banaras Hindu University. If BJP wants to celebrate Raja Mahendra Pratap Singhs birth anniversary, we demand that the vice- chancellor of the University celebrate the Nizams birth anniversary, he said. The MIM has called for a peaceful bandh on October 6, the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 04:40:35 +0000
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