‘If I’m B-team of BJP, What Was Rahul Gandhi’s Arrangement with Smriti Irani in Amethi?’ Owaisi Slams Congress – News18

On the campaign trail in poll-bound Rajasthan, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi yet again hit out at the Congress party for calling him the vote-cutter and B-team of BJP. “If they have any proof against me, they should just put it out. All this conversation about freedom of speech etc is nothing but facade,” the Hyderabad MP said.

Owaisi said that he does not need permission from Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party to contest wherever he wants. Taking a further potshot at the Gandhi scion, Owaisi said, “Rahul Gandhi lost the election in Amethi to Smriti Irani. Was it some sort of an arrangement? The Congress party lost the Lok Sabha elections to Modi; was this arrangement politics or politics of understanding? The Congress party should stop lecturing others.”

In an exclusive interview with CNN-News18, Owaisi further slammed the Congress.

The AIMIM is fighting on 10 assembly seats in Rajasthan and Owaisi says it’s a myth that it’s just a BJP vs Congress fight here. “I do not agree that it is just a bipolar contest. There is enough evidence to show that there is space for other political parties, apart from just a BJP or a Congress. The state has given 10 to 11 independent MLAs too.”

Supporting the cause of distributing freebies, the AIMIM chief says it’s nothing but support for the poor. “Poverty is increasing and the economy is in distress, so what is wrong with somebody giving out benefits for the poor? Even in Telangana, we have various schemes for the poor,” he said.

In the manifesto of the BJP expected on Thursday, the Lok Sabha MP from Telangana says he has no hope of any big announcements for people from his focus group. “The BJP has made Muslim minorities invisible from the political map of the country,” Owaisi said. “I do not think they will make any announcement with regard to their welfare.”