The BJP has consistently won the election because the opposition was defeated (Nakamura), and because the Hindu vote was consolidated, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said he rejected his suggestion to cut the votes of the opposition bank. “How can you blame me?” Owaisi said in a video interview with PTI on Saturday.
“If I play in Hyderabad, Aurangabad, Kishanganj and some other seats in the 2024 parliamentary elections and the BJP has won 240 seats, then am I responsible?” Owasi said. “The BJP came to power because the opposition was defeated (Nakaam). The BJP won the election because it has consolidated nearly 50% of the Hindu vote,” he said.
Opposition parties like Congress ridiculed Owaisi’s attempt to put his all-Indian Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party outside its stronghold in Hyderabad, saying he ended up benefiting the BJP by taking away most of the votes. The fifth Lok Sabha MP objected, accusing the opposition of taking Muslim votes for granted and barely cared about their real concerns.
“It’s acceptable for you when every part of society has a performance of political leadership, but you don’t want Muslims to have a political voice, political leadership,” he said. When asked if he was referring to Congress, he said he was referring to all opposition parties, including BSP, SP and BJP.
“Yadav will be the leader, Musalmaan will be a beggar. The upper caste will be the leader, Musalmaan will be a beggar, and that’s fair to tell me,” Owaisi said. He lamented that India’s founding fathers had seen the country as participatory democracy, “So where is the participation of Muslims?” “When this is a matter of integrity and security in India, we will stand up and stand in the Indian army. But, we do have to talk about the issues inside the house, don’t we?”
He noted that although Muslims are the largest minority in the country, only 4% of Muslims participate in the legislature and parliament. When asked why he did this, he said it was because the parties did not give Muslims tickets to the election and then people did not vote for Muslims.
He warned that India cannot achieve the goal of “Vixit Bharat” by keeping such a large community marginalized and weak. He added that political parties should stop seeing Muslims as voting banks, but instead work to improve them, educate them, treat them fairly and give them work. “Our struggle is that we don’t want to be voters. We want to be citizens.”
Owaisi succeeded in his attempts to be elected attractive leaders outside his castle, as his party won some seats in states such as Bihar and Maharashtra in past elections, especially those with large Muslim populations. His unabashed advocacy of Muslim dissatisfaction and desires has earned him worship in communities across the country.
