Why can't Bihar have Muslim CM, questions Asaduddin Owaisi

Gopalganj (Bihar): AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday kicked off the election campaign of his party for the Bihar assembly elections, questioning why the eastern state cannot have a Muslim CM despite the minority community comprising 17 per cent of the state's population.

The Hyderabad MP lambasted the ruling NDA as well as the opposition INDIA bloc for allegedly "giving a raw deal" to the Muslim community.

Owaisi, whose party is contesting 32 assembly seats in the poll-bound state, launched his election campaign from Gopalganj, where he addressed a rally at a village 20 km away from the district headquarters.

"Why cannot a Muslim, who represents 17 per cent of the state's population, become the chief minister? After all, they seem to have no problem with promising the deputy CM's post to a person who represents only three per cent of the population," he added.

The allusion was to the INDIA bloc, which has named RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate, promising the deputy CM's post to Mukesh Sahni, a Nishad leader who heads Vikassheel Insan Party.

Owaisi said, "Parties like Congress, RJD and Samajwadi Party seek votes of Muslims, cashing in on the minority community's fear of the BJP. These parties have not been able to stop the BJP but are still trying to get the votes of Muslims under the same pretext."

"The time has come to call the bluff of these parties, which cannot even offer a proportionate representation to Muslims in the distribution of tickets. The Muslim community now must look towards building its own leadership," asserted the AIMIM president.

Training his guns at the ruling BJP at the Centre, Owaisi pointed out, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi claims to take all along and strive to work for the progress of all. But his party fails to give tickets, in elections, to a single Muslim."

He also charged Union Home Minister Amit Shah with indulging in dog-whistling against the minority community by repeatedly referring to 'infiltrators' (ghuspaithiye) in his election speeches.

"Amit Shah should tell us how many infiltrators were spotted during the mammoth SIR. He should also tell us how come infiltration continues unabated despite the BSF, which comes under his ministry, deployed along the country's borders.

"Of course, Amit Shah will flinch from answering these questions. But if Muslims of Bihar want these issues to be strongly raised in the state legislature, I appeal to them to vote for the kite symbol allotted to AIMIM," Owaisi added.

The Hyderabad MP also referred to the controversy over Union minister Giriraj Singh's repeated use of the term 'namak haram' (betrayers) for the Muslim community, whom the latter had accused of not voting for the BJP-led coalition despite availing of welfare measures brought in by the NDA government.

"A lot is being said about Rs 6,000 being paid to farmers under the Kisan Nidhi Yojana. It is public money and not the ancestral wealth of those in power. Moreover, corruption is rampant. People cannot avail of benefits they are entitled to unless the officials concerned get a cut," said the barrister-turned-politician.

Owaisi also alleged that leaders like Modi, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD president Lalu Prasad, the father of Tejashwi Yadav, had skewed priorities.

"Modi's heart lies in Ahmedabad. The heart of Nitish lies in Rajgir (in his home district of Nalanda), Lalu's heart lies in his son. There is nobody whose heart beats for the common people," lamented the AIMIM chief.