All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday hit out at the Congress, claiming that the only voters of the grand old party were from the Muslim community.
“We didn't go and they lost in Amethi so if we go, won't they cry so much? We didn't go and Smriti Irani defeated him...They were not able to save their great-grandfather, grandmother and father's seat,” Owaisi said at a briefing in Hyderabad.
Amethi, the Lok Sabha constituency created in 1967, was a Congress bastion over decades. It was represented by Gandhi family members including Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi before Rahul Gandhi entered politics by winning from this seat in 2004.
He got elected from 2009 again but the victory margin dropped from 3,70,198 votes in 2009 to 1,07,903 votes in 2014. BJP candidate Smriti Irani garnered over three lakh votes in her maiden election.
However, Rahul Gandhi lost to Irani in the 2019 election. He was elected from Wayanad in Kerala.
Owaisi said Gandhi won from Wayanad in Kerala because of Muslim votes. “Rahul Gandhi won Wayanad because the Muslim league got him 35% Muslim votes. This is the truth of Indian politics...If there's a voter left for Congress, it's the Muslim vote and that's why Congress is bothered about AIMIM's concern of minority empowerment and leadership,” he added.
The Congress has been accusing Owaisi's AIMIM of being in alliance with K Chandrashekar Rao's BRS and the Bharatiya Janata Party in Telangana.
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“In Telangana, there is an electoral contest between Congress and the BRS. We have defeated the BJP here. But remember, BJP wants BRS to win in Telangana. Both of them are working together. Even the AIMIM is hand in gloves with them," Rahul Gandhi had said in a rally last month.
Owaisi said Gandhi won from Wayanad in Kerala because of Muslim votes. “Rahul Gandhi won Wayanad because the Muslim league got him 35% Muslim votes. This is the truth of Indian politics...If there's a voter left for Congress, it's the Muslim vote and that's why Congress is bothered about AIMIM's concern of minority empowerment and leadership,” he added.
The Congress has been accusing Owaisi's AIMIM of being in alliance with K Chandrashekar Rao's BRS and the Bharatiya Janata Party in Telangana.
ALSO READ: 'Because of my name, beard...': Owaisi responds to Rahul Gandhi's allegations
“In Telangana, there is an electoral contest between Congress and the BRS. We have defeated the BJP here. But remember, BJP wants BRS to win in Telangana. Both of them are working together. Even the AIMIM is hand in gloves with them," Rahul Gandhi had said in a rally last month.