Owaisi calls out Congress, NCP’s ‘fake’ secularism

Addressing a predominantly male audience of about 10,000 in Mumbra, the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asadauddin Owaisi hit out at Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, and the Nitish Kumar-Tejasvi Yadav combine for their “fake” secularism

Mumbai: Addressing a predominantly male audience of about 10,000 in Mumbra, the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asadauddin Owaisi hit out at Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, and the Nitish Kumar-Tejasvi Yadav combine for their “fake” secularism. “None of these leaders uttered a word when people were being killed in their states, nor did they visit them,” he said, referencing the arrest of eight-year-old Rizwan in Bihar, and incidents of lynching in Samastipur in August last year.

Navi Mumbai, India - February 25, 2023: Member of Parliament and National President of AIMIM Asaduddin Owaisi along with party MP Imtiyaz Jaleel (left), during the 1st National Convention of AIMIM held at Hotel Ramada, Mahape, in Navi Mumbai, India, on Saturday, February 25, 2023. (Photo by Bachchan Kumar/ HT PHOTO) (HT PHOTO)

The public meeting held in Mumbra, was part of the first national convention of the party in the Ramada Hotel in Navi Mumbai, eight kilometers away from this Muslim dominated township.

The choice of Mumbra is dictated both by its demographic as well as its three-term MLA Jitendra Awhad, who was attacked by every speaker at the meeting. Significantly, CM Eknath Shinde is seen as the only rival to Awhad, but he does not enjoy the support of Muslims as Awhad does. If Muslim votes go to Owaisi, Shinde will be the beneficiary, pointed out Mumbra’s Muslims.

Owaisi also pointed out that while the NCP’s Anil Deshmukh, former home minister, got bail after being jailed by the ED, his party colleague Nawab Malik, also a former minister, was still behind bars. “This is the NCP’s secularism,” he said. He spoke of crackers being burst near a 500-year-old dargah in Pune during Mahashivratri. Sharad Pawar, who asked Muslims to vote for him in the by-election there, did not comment about this, pointed out Owasi.

Drawing attention to the change in name of Aurangabad to Sambhaji Nagar, Owaisi said that both the Congress and Pawar had welcomed it. “Are these the leaders whose slaves you want to be,” he asked the crowd.

The AIMIM chief is set to address his second public meeting in Malwani, a Muslim dominated area of Malad on Sunday. The choice of venue is significant because it is the area where Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and minister Mangal Prabhaat Lodha has been raising alarms about ‘Hindus being in danger’ since the last two years. Owaisi’s speech is likely to polarise voters close to BMC election.

The AIMIM has set its sights on the election -- it currently has two corporators in Mumbai. Political observers say that the change in regime in Maharashtra may work to Owaisi’s benefit as already, Hindutva groups have started being active here.

Earlier in Navi Mumbai, Owasi had ruled out any possibility of alliance with any opposition parties to the ruling government.

“Next year when the Lok Sabha elections are held we will contest from Aurangabad constituency as we have a sitting MP there. We are confident of winning it,” he said.

Refusing to meet Uddhav Thackeray, as Arvind Kejrival did on Friday, he stated, “I won’t go to meet him. Why should I? I will go to people’s doors, to houses of the poor, to house of Junaid and Nasir who were killed, I will go to those who are facing tyranny. People who are quiet should say something on it. They are not saying.”

(With inputs by G. Mohiuddin Jeddy, in Navi Mumbai)