Former Minister & ex-Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir concurred with the views of farmer leader Rakesh Tikait who described the relationship between MIM President Asaduddin Owaisi and BJP as of ‘chacha-bhatija’ (uncle-nephew).
“Asaduddin Owaisi is now making statements on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) only to polarise voters in Uttar Pradesh election. His real intention is not to seek repeal of these two controversial laws, but to benefit the BJP by polarising voters,” Shabbir Ali said in a media statement.
Shabbir Ali alleged that Asaduddin Owaisi had sabotaged many agitations against the CAA and NRC in different parts of the country, especially Telangana, to help the BJP Govt. “Everyone knows that MIM pressurised TRS Govt to stop Million March against CAA & NRC organised by different organisations in Hyderabad in December 2019.
While the Congress party openly supported all the agitations against anti-people policies, MIM tried to misuse the CAA-NRC issue to polarise voters during elections in different States to help the BJP. This time too, MIM is desperately trying to polarise voters in Uttar Pradesh by threatening agitation on the CAA-NRC issue,” he said.
“Rakesh Tikait has rightly described Asaduddin Owaisi as BJP’s ‘bhatija’. He will keep giving statements that might benefit the BJP in UP elections,” he alleged while appealing to the people, especially Muslims, to stay cautious against him. He said CAA and NRC could not be repealed through media statements. Farmers have set an example that the government can be pressurised to repeal any controversial law through peaceful and sustained agitation without making any compromise. However, Owaisi is only capturing media space with provocative statements while making secret deals with the BJP Govt, he said.
Shabbir Ali said that the friendship between MIM and BJP was no more a secret. “People have understood that MIM and BJP criticise each other for mutual benefit. The Congress party has recently exposed that BJP has directed MIM to contest about 100 seats in UP elections as the division of votes will help the ruling party. The entire deal was brokered allegedly by Telangana’s Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao with Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his last visit to New Delhi. Since the relationship between KCR and Owaisi is like of ‘Maama – Bhanja’, he is now preparing to field MIM candidates from 100 seats,” he alleged.
Responding to Asaduddin Owaisi’s statement that MIM wants to hold protest in Maharashtra on the Muslim reservation issue, Shabbir Ali advised Owaisi to first organise the protest in Telangana to pressurise CM KCR to honour the promise of enhancing Muslim reservation from 4% to 12%. “Asaduddin Owaisi never made a statement against KCR for his failure to honour the promise of giving 12% Muslim reservation.
He also remained silent on the demolition of six mosques, including two mosques in the Secretariat. He also prevented all Muslim organisations from holding any kind of protest in Hyderabad since July 2020. But in view of UP elections, he is trying to target Maharashtra Govt to boost Hindu-Muslim rhetoric,” he said.
