All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Hyderabad Lok Sabha candidate Asaduddin Owaisi gave the election war cry of “Hyderabad mey Patang, Telangana se BJP khatam” (The Kite [AIMIM’s symbol] for Hyderabad, oust BJP from Telangana) during his last public meeting before LS polls on Saturday.
He asserted that this election was not about ‘Mamu’, a term he used for BRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao, but to remove Prime Minister Narendra Modi from power.
“This parliamentary election is not about Mamu, but about removing Modi. If you don’t understand this, I am saying again clearly: Secunderabad mey motay ku jitaao (Make the fat man win in Secunderabad). Nizamabad mey jissku sufaid baal zyaada hai ussku jitaao ( In Nizamabad, make the one who has more grey hair win). Chevella mey dublay ku jitaao (In Chevella, make the lean man win),” he said, in an oblique reference to the Congress candidates.
Mr. Owaisi said that workers across ranks, especially in Mahabubnagar, Chevella, Secunderabad, Malkajgiri, Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Adilabad constituencies, would have to accept and implement the AIMIM’s decision. He added that BJP would certainly lose if people come together to vote.
Invoking the first war of Independence in 1857, Mr. Owaisi waxed eloquent on the sacrifices made by both Hindus and Muslims to drive away the British. He said that both had fought together, and at times were hanged by the British from the same tree.
“Who said Muslims and Hindus are two different nations? Did we say it? No, we did not. My friends and elders, we want to remind the Prime Minister of India and the BJP, who say that a vote to the Majlis is akin to voting for Pakistan. Have you no shame? It was you who spoke of the two-nation theory. Your hero said that Hindus and Muslims are different nations. Your hero wrote it in his book,” he said.
The MIM chief also criticised Mr. Modi and said that the latter was quiet on Chinese incursions near the border. “China had occupied 2,000 sq km of Indian territory,” he said and challenged the PM to accompany him along with the media to Demchok.
Meanwhile, MIM Floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi spoke about the party’s efforts in the fields of education and healthcare. He sought to underscore that the party had facilitated funds to reach thousands of beneficiaries, and pointed out that irrespective of which party was in power, the AIMIM is in a position “to get work done”.
