When PM visits Arab nations...: Owaisi on 'vote jihad'

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday slammed the BJP over its leaders' “vote jihad” remark and asked if they use the same language when the prime minister visits Arab countries.

The Hyderabad MP accused the ruling party of deflecting focus from core issues like farmer suicides in Maharashtra. He went door-to-door in Aurangabad Central constituency in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and interacted with voters.

AIMIM has nominated Naser Siddiqui from the constituency, where he faces sitting MLA Pradip Jaiswal of Shiv Sena and Balasaheb Thorat of Shiv Sena (UBT), for the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections.

“Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is talking about ‘vote jihad' in the state. But do they use the same language when the prime minister (Narendra Modi) visits Arab countries,” asked the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief.

He said 324 farmers have died by suicide in “Aurangabad (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) division", but no one is talking about it.

“Instead, Fadnavis is remembering ‘vote jihad', They are just targeting only one community. They should answer why they failed to ensure reservation for the Maratha community,” he said.

Owaisi also appealed to Marathas, Muslims and Dalits to stay united.

“Looking at the political landscape of Maharashtra, it is the need of the hour that Marathas, Muslims and Dalits stay united and live in harmony,” he said.

The Aurangabad Central constituency is a part of the state's Marathwada region, where activist Manoj Jarange has been agitating demanding quota for Marathas in education and government jobs.

Asked about the allegations that some NGOs in Maharashtra are working to propagate ‘vote jihad', Owaisi said anyone can campaign in an election by abiding by the law. “Where did ‘jihad' come in this,” he asked.

Targeting the opposition bloc Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), senior BJP leader Fadnavis had claimed earlier that “vote jihad” was witnessed in 14 out of the 48 constituencies in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha elections.

“In the Dhule constituency, the BJP candidate led with 1.9 lakh votes in five assembly seats… However, our candidate lost the election by just 4,000 votes because of voting in the Malegaon Central assembly segment,” he had said, referring to what he called ‘vote jihad'.