MIM blaming secular parties for BJP's victory is ridiculous: Congress

The Congress party has strongly condemned Mim president Asaduddin Owaisi for blaming secular parties, including Congress, for the victory of Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

"Having sabotaged the secular votes by creating a division through polarisation, Asaduddin Owaisi is trying to defend his stand by blaming others. Mim president entered Uttar Pradesh by wearing a communal mascot which was laced with hate speeches delivered by him and his brother in the past. He was fully supported by the BJP-backed media which gave his party more prominence than the Congress, Samajwadi Party or other secular groups. The number of seats from where Mim fielded its candidates was immaterial for the BJP and it only took advantage of Mim's presence in the electoral battle and won the elections due to polarisation of votes and also due to division of secular votes," Greater Hyderabad Congress Committee (GHCC) Minorities Department Chairman Shaik Abdullah Sohail said on Monday.

Reacting to Asaduddin Owaisi's question on BJP's victory in Uttarakhand and other places where his party did not field any candidates, Abdullah Sohail said that the Mim president himself should give an answer to this question. "If Mim's approach was secular and it had the support of Dalits and others sections of the society, then why it remained confined only to Uttar Pradesh? Why it did not field any candidates from Uttarakhand where Muslims constitute about 14% of the total population? Why Asaduddin Owaisi was focused only on 33 out of 403 Assembly seats in UP which had a significant Muslim population?" he asked.

Abdullah Sohail said that the Mim leaders acted as per the directions of BJP chief Amit Shah and fielded candidates from selective Assembly constituencies where polarisation and division of votes was essential to help the BJP win elections. He said if Mim was serious on expanding its base to other parts of the country, then it would have contested in all States and from all seats. Since it wanted the BJP to win UP elections, it entered the State with a specific agenda and accomplished its goal, he said adding that Mim had benefitted the BJP and Shiv Sena in a similar fashion during Maharashtra Assembly elections.

The Congress leader asked Asaduddin Owaisi to stop cheating the people by projecting as if Mim was a new-born political party which is taking baby-steps in politics. "Mim has celebrated its 59th Revival Day on 2nd of March this year. It won first municipal election in Hyderabad in 1961, entered Assembly in 1962 and has been winning Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat since 1984. During the last 59 years of its existence, it never tried to expand its network out of Hyderabad and survived by blackmailing other political parties. It made friendship with any party in power in the State and deceived it just before elections to keep its option open for post-poll alliances. Asaduddin Owaisi was part of Congress-led UPA alliance for almost nine years. Mim severed ties with the Congress on filmsy grounds just before elections and later became an ally of TRS after 2014 elections. It is bound to break to its ties with TRS sooner or later and it will join hands with any party which comes to power in 2019 General Elections," he said.

Abdullah Sohail asked Asaduddin Owaisi to do a serious introspection of how his behaviour has been causing immense damage to the Muslims across the country. He said Owaisi should not sabotage the interest of entire community for short-term gains. He appealed the Muslims of Karnataka and Gujarat to stay cautious against the Mim's entry into their States in view of Assembly elections next year.