BJP is in power in Gujarat due to Congress's incapability: Asaduddin Owaisi
Kutch(PTI): 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, 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 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," 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. Referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's defeat from Amethi Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh in the 2019 general elections, he wondered if it was a "setting" (secret deal).
"If the AIMIM is accused of having a 'setting' with the BJP, then we too can say the same about the Congress. Was the defeat of Rahul Gandhi from Amethi an example of a setting between BJP and Congress? Because he contested from two seats and won from one (Wayanad) but lost in Amethi," he said.
The AIMIM was contesting elections in Gujarat like any other political party, he said. The party is entering the fray for Assembly polls in Gujarat for the first time.
"We initially put up candidates in 14 seats, but one of our candidates joined the Congress. So we are now contesting 13 seats. I am confident and hopeful of getting people's support," the four-time MP from Hyderabad said.
The seats the AIMIM is contesting are Muslim-dominated areas which have been traditionally Congress strongholds. Accusing the BJP of trying to vitiate the atmosphere by creating an "anti-Muslim narrative", Owaisi said the issue of UCC was raised deliberately during the campaign.
"They are raising such issues to create a communal narrative. The BJP is trying to bring in Uniform Civil Code for Muslims, and for Hindus it will be the Hindu Code. They are trying to divide the people," he said.
The BJP leaders also speak about Aaftab Poonawala, who is accused of brutally killing his live-in partner Shraddha Walker in Delhi, during the campaign for the same reason, he alleged.
Crime against women should not be linked to any religion, he added.
"There are many instances of women being at the receiving end of men's cruelty. So, this is an issue of the sick mentality of men and it should be condemned. But connecting this incident to religion is unacceptable. The BJP is doing this deliberately to create more hatred against Muslims," he said.
When asked what would be the AIMIM'S strategy if it wins some seats and there is a hung Assembly, Owaisi refused to answer, saying it was a hypothetical question.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
