Foolishness of SP, BSP chiefs made Modi PM twice: Owaisi

Sultanpur (UP), Sep 8 (PTI) Narendra Modi became the prime minister of the country twice because of the foolishness of the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party chiefs, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi said on Wednesday.

He made the assertion in response to the two parties' presidents, Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati, earlier dubbing him as the “vote spoiler” for their parties.

Addressing a press conference later in the evening, Owaisi said, "Muslims have come to know that many parties take their vote but do not make any member of the community a leader. They now want a share in education as well as the economy." At a public rally at Odara village of Sultanpur district during his ongoing tour of Uttar Pradesh, he said, "Narendra Modi became the prime minister of the country twice because of the 'nasamjhi' (foolishness) of Akhilesh (Yadav) and Mayawati." Claiming that there has been a change among Muslims now, he said they have realised that every section of society has its leader and that section gets benefits.

So the Muslim also wants that be it education or economy, they should have a share in it, he said.

He said it was his endeavour that before the elections in UP, he pays a visit to areas wherever his party is strong and meet people. This is in preparation for the elections to get good results, he said.

To a question on SP MLA Irfan Solanki demanding a place for offering prayers in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, he said these people should tell people how many Muslims who left their home after the Muzaffarnagar riots during the Akhilesh Yadav’s reign returned to their places till now.

Contesting the allegations that by fighting polls in UP, Owaisi would spoil votes of the BJP's rivals, the Hyderabad MP asked, "When you all (Muslims) voted for Akhilesh Yadav's party, how come a BJP candidate won from here in the last assembly polls?" Similarly, how did the BJP won the Sultanpur Lok Sabha seat in 2019 when no AIMIM candidate had contested from here, he asked.

Launching a scathing attack against Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Owaisi asked, "Are Muslims your slaves?" "The BJP did not win the two consecutive General Elections in 2014 and 2019 with the Muslims votes as they got only six per cent of their votes in the two polls," the AIMIM chief said, seeking to junk SP's claim that Owaisi was jumping into the UP poll fray to eat into their votes and to help the saffron party.

The Hyderabad MP said his party has been contesting elections across the country to safeguard Muslim interests and pointed to their victory at three Lok Sabha seats of Hyderabad, Aurangabad in Maharashtra and Kishanganj in Bihar in the 2019 elections.

"We defeated the BJP in Hyderabad, despite Modi and Amit Shah making several trips to drum up support for the saffron party," the four-time MP said.

Seeking to establish rapport with Muslim voters, the AIMIM leader said he wants the minority community to have a strong say in the state assemblies and Parliament.

"The SP and the BSP have only sucked your blood," he alleged.

Taking a dig at UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, he said the Centre had provided Rs 116 crore for the welfare of minorities in UP but he spent only Rs 10 crore out of it.

"I had raised the issue in Parliament while Akhilesh maintained silence over it," he quipped.

Owaisi, who has announced that his party All-India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen would contest 100 seats in the 2022 Assembly elections, launched his poll campaign from Ayodhya on Tuesday.

Attacking the Samajwadi Party, Owaisi alleged that Muslims have been "cheated" in the name of secularism and declared that he has come to Uttar Pradesh to defeat the BJP.

"Our first effort is that the Muslim leadership should be developed in the country's biggest state Uttar Pradesh," he said, starting his political campaign in the poll-bound state from Ayodhya. PTI CORR SNS SAB RAX RDK RDK