BJP is in power in Gujarat due to incapability of Congress: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi

“The ruling BJP is trying to create an “anti-Muslim narrative” during the campaign by raising issues such as the Uniform Civil Code and Mehrauli murder case,” AIMIM chief Owaisi alleged.

All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi has denied that his party’s role in the next month’s Gujarat Assembly elections would be to eat into the Congress’s vote share and blamed the grand old party for the BJP’s long run in power in the State.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to create an "anti-Muslim narrative" during the campaign by raising issues such as the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and Mehrauli murder case, he alleged.

In an interview to PTI, Mr. Owaisi, on a campaign tour in Kutch district where his party is contesting two seats, refuted the claim that the AIMIM was a "vote katua" (vote-cutter) party.

"Why is the Congress levelling allegations against us? Is it to hide its own deficiencies? The BJP has been in power in Gujarat for the last 27 years, only Congress was in the Opposition. Who had stopped the Congress from defeating the BJP and why had they failed to defeat them for nearly three decades? The Congress must first answer this question," he said.

The Congress has accused both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the AIMIM as being the "B-teams" of the BJP.

"Let me make this clear, we are not here to eat into anyone's vote share. We are here to fight against the BJP," Mr. Owaisi said, pointing out that his party was contesting only 13 out of 182 seats in the Gujarat Assembly.

“Let Congress win 169 seats and form the government. It is because of its incapability and reluctance to take on the BJP that the latter has been in power for 27 years, it is because of them the BJP is winning,” the AIMIM chief said. “The Congress has made a compromise with the BJP in Gujarat,” he said.