Maharashtra civic polls: Parties lost should introspect, says Owaisi
Hyderabad (PTI): Thanking the people of Maharashtra for electing 125 of its candidates as corporators in various Municipal Corporations in the western state, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday said the parties that lost the polls should introspect.
Addressing a press conference, Owaisi said the AIMIM party is gearing up to contest Municipal polls in Telangana and that the party already sought the names of interested candidates.
“Now those parties who abuse us (as BJP's B team) should think of themselves. It is the decision of the people. There is an English saying that victory has many fathers, defeat has none. Why did we (they) lose? Those great people will have to say. As far as the voters' list is concerned, it is correct,” he replied to a query.
Replying to a query on Thackeray cousins coming together, the Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP said the verdict is in front of everyone, and Uddhav Thackeray's candidate has won in the area where Eknath Shinde’s house is located.
“Our party has won. I am happy. I do not know about others,” he said.
Owaisi exuded confidence that his corporators who won on the party’s symbol would sail with the party, even as AIMIM is taking all precautionary measures to keep the flock together.
Reacting to a query on being called the BJP's "B team", Owaisi said he does not have a cure for such allegations.
"It (allegations) makes no difference to me. Those talking such nonsense should understand that you are disrespecting the people who voted for us. If you hurt them, your downfall will continue. AIMIM will become even stronger," he said.
Asked on reports of posters at Haridwar’s Hari Ki Paudi allegedly banning the entry of non-Hindus, Owaisi said this is against the Constitution. He said it is a form of untouchability and violates the right to equality.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
