All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) President Asaduddin Owaisi
AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday raked up the issue of farmers protest in Delhi as he chided Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for not listening to their demands.
"When country's Home minister can visit Hyderabad to campaign for the civic poll, why can't the farmers go to Jantar Mantar? The government should talk to the farmers. Why wait for December 3? These farmers feed the country, the government should listen them," Owaisi told India TV.
Thousands of farmers from Punjab began their Delhi Chalo march on Thursday. They reached Delhi borders on Friday afternoon and are camping there since then. Farmers are demanding from the government to take back the three farm laws that were passed by the Parliament earlier this year. Meanwhile, a meeting of the protesting farmers' unions with the Centre has already been scheduled on December 3.
Asked about the BJP's high-pitched campaign in Hyderabad for the December 1 polls, Owaisi said, "The BJP is only creating a hype around Hyderabad civic polls. The Congress too didn’t win in the civil polls."
AIMIM is BJP's B Team?
To a question about AIMIM being the 'B' team of the BJP, he replied, "The AIMIM didn't contest Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal in 2019, but the BJP won 18 seats. We didn't field even a single candidate."
Buoyed by the wins in Bihar, Owaisi has announced that the AIMIM will contest the 2021 assembly polls in West Bengal. The ruling TMC in the state has called the AIMIM a communal force which acts as the B team of BJP.
"It now makes no difference to us," the Hyderabad MP added.
READ MORE: Hyderabad civic polls to be held with ballot papers
He also defended Bihar MLA Akhtarul Iman who recently stirred a controversy when he objected to the word 'Hindustan' during the oath taking ceremony inside the Legislative Assembly. “He didn’t do anything that goes against the Constitution. He just said that Bharat is written in the Constitution and he took the oath. What’s wrong in this. Those who have not read the Constitution, should read it first.”
BJP defaming brand 'Hyderabad'
On Adityanath’s call for changing the name of Hyderabad, Owaisi said, “The BJP has no work here. Adityanath is the CM of a state which is ranked 26th, and the Telangana is ranked third. You (Adityanath) didn’t allow parents of Hathras victim to cremate her and you try to preach Hyderabad. You are defaming Hyderabad. Hyderabad houses several tech companies.”
Elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation will be held on December 1. The counting of votes for the poll would be taken up on December 4. There are 150 wards in all in the corporation, and the mayor’s post is reserved for a woman this time. In the 2016 elections, Owaisi's AIMIM had won 44 seats. The TRS had pocketed 99 seats while the BJP secured just 4 seats. The TDP and Congress won two seats each.
