AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi addresses a press conference, in Hyderabad, on Nov. 22, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PTI
AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday called Congress candidate for Jubilee Hills constituency, Mohammad Azharuddin, an “unsuccessful politician” and expressed hope that voters would support his party candidate there.
“I’ll tell you that the Congress candidate (Azharuddin) is an unsuccessful politician. Moradabad is one of the prestigious seats in U.P. He got votes there, but he did not do anything for the constituency. He did not even look back and see,” Mr. Owaisi said.
He further said the former India cricketer unsuccessfully contested in Rajasthan and also did not bother to take care of his constituency there.
“He is not a serious politician…he is a good cricketer. He scored three centuries after making his debut,” he quipped and referred to the criminal cases filed against Mr. Azharuddin related to alleged corruption in Hyderabad Cricket Association during his tenure.
Replying to a query as to why the AIMIM fielded a Muslim candidate in Jubilee Hills against Mr. Azharuddin, Mr. Owaisi said several segments in the State witness contest between two candidates of the same caste.
On the possible outcome after the polls, he said, “I am pretty sure that after this election KCR will become the Chief Minister for the third consecutive time. People of Telangana are very wise.” Replying to a query, he said Rahul Gandhi was able to win in Wayanad as the Muslim League ensured 35% of Muslims’ vote for him there.
He claimed that if there are any votes left out with the Congress, they are Muslims and that is the reason why the party does not want the AIMIM party to expand.
He further said Mr. Gandhi was defeated by BJP leader Smriti Irani in Amethi, which is a Congress bastion since generations.
Taking on the Telangana PCC chief Revanth Reddy, the AIMIM leader alleged that he has RSS roots and Gandhi Bhavan is ‘remotely controlled by Mohan Bhagwat.’ Dismissing the allegations that the BJP and BRS have a tacit understanding, he sought to know why Chandrashekhar Rao would spend ₹12,000 crore towards minorities development in the past 10 years then.
He alleged that the history of the Congress is fraught with communal riots and several people belonging to Hindu and Muslim communities were killed in the violence.
Reacting to BJP’s promise to abolish religion-based reservations if it came to power, Mr. Owaisi said the existing quota of four per cent that is being implemented in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are not based on religion and it is false propaganda by the party.
On a video in which Mr. Owaisi’s brother Akbaruddin purportedly threatened an official, he said as per Election Commission rules they have permission to conduct a rally up to 10 PM. However, the official tried to stop the meeting before the deadline.
