Muslims should emerge as political force, says Owaisi
Hyderabad, June 8: MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday said Muslims should emerge as political force to get their rights in the country.
He said he believes this will strengthen the country, the roots of secularism and restore confidence among Muslims.
Addressing a meeting at the historic Mecca Masjid on the last Friday of Ramadan, he said the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) will continue its political journey to expand in different parts of the country despite the allegations from its rivals that it is dividing secular votes.
Stating that MIM did not contest elections in Karnataka and extended support to Janta Dal-Secular as a strategy, Owaisi said the outcome proved their strategy right. He revealed that JD-S leader (and now Chief Minister) H.D. Kumaraswamy had offered MIM a seat but he declined.
The Hyderabad MP said Muslims could no longer trust the Congress. "The Congress is finished. A man who spent 50 years in Congress and was President of India visited RSS headquarters. Do you still have hopes from this party," he asked referring to Pranab Mukherjee's visit to RSS headquarters on Thursday.
Owaisi said there was need to think of an alternate to the Bharatiya Janata Party, other than the Congress. "The alternate is regional parties and they have to be strengthened," he said referring to the proposal of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao for a federal front as alternative to both BJP and Congress and to bring qualitative change in the country's politics.
Owaisi slammed Mukherjee for visiting RSS headquarters and calling RSS founder K.B. Hedgewar a great son of India. He said the man who held the highest constitutional post in the country should know that it was Hedgewar who had asked RSS workers not to fight British and who had stated that India is a country of Hindus.
The MIM president also lashed out at Congress for terming Mukherjee's speech at the RSS meet as "sagacious". He reminded Congress that RSS cadre had celebrated when Mahatma Gandhi was killed by Nathuram Godse.
Owaisi alleged that both BJP and Congress were hoodwinking the people, who were worried over skyrocketing prices of petroleum products and lack of jobs.
The MIM chief voiced concern over growing number of attacks on Muslims. He said repression was let loose on the community in the name of the cow since BJP came to power in the country four years ago. "As many as 28 people were killed in these four years in the name of cow," he said.
Quoting statistics of Union Home Ministry, Owaisi said the communal riots had increased by 24 per cent. There were 8,890 incident of communal riots in which 390 people were killed and 9,000 injured.
He alleged that the BJP government created an environment of hatred towards Muslims and a message was being given that Muslims are responsible for Partition and that they are not loyal to this country.
Owaisi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets Muslims on Ramadan and speaks about 'zakat' in his 'Mann ki Baat' programme but he had failed to discharge his responsibilities as a ruler.
The MP said if the excesses on Muslims continued, this will result in the Constitution being thrown to the wind and there will be no rule of law.
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Power tariffs under BESCOM to rise from May 1
Bengaluru (PTI): Power bills for consumers under the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) will go up from May 1, following an order issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Friday.
The hike comes after KERC allowed the BESCOM to recover a revenue deficit of Rs 2,068 crore incurred in 2024-25, from the consumers.
As a result, for every unit of electricity consumed in 2024-25, the customers will be charged an additional 56 paise, it said.
"BESCOM shall calculate, for each of the active consumers of FY2024-25 the amount to be recovered based on their actual energy consumption during FY2024-25. Such amount shall be recovered during FY 2026-27 in equal monthly instalments, to be called as 'FY25 True up Charges', commencing from the first meter reading date falling on or after 1 May 2026 and concluding with the reading date ending on 30 April 2027," the order said.
"It is further ordered that BESCOM shall maintain a separate head of account, allocated for the purpose, to record the adjustment of the said amount to ensure full recovery of the deficit," it added.
Similarly Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) has also recorded a revenue deficit of Rs 121.71 crore and can collect an additional 15 paisa per unit for consumption in 2024-25, official sources said.
