BJP keeps winning because opposition is a failure: Asaduddin Owaisi
Hyderabad(PTI): The BJP is winning elections consistently because the opposition is a failure (nakaam) and because it has consolidated the Hindu votes, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has said, rejecting suggestions that he cuts into anti-Modi votes.
"How can you put the blame on me, tell me?" Owaisi said in an interview to PTI Videos on Saturday.
"If I contest in Hyderabad, Aurangabad, Kishanganj and a few other seats in the 2024 Parliamentary elections and BJP gets 240 seats then am I responsible?" Owaisi said.
"BJP is coming to power because the opposition is a failure (nakaam). BJP is winning elections because it has consolidated almost 50 per cent of the Hindu vote," he said, adding that attempts to blame him, and call him BJP's B-Team are nothing but the opposition's "hatred" for his party because it largely represents Muslims.
Opposition parties like the Congress have scoffed at Owaisi's attempts to grow his All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party outside its stronghold of the Hyderabad region, saying he ends up benefitting the BJP by taking away a chunk of votes, mostly Muslims.
The fifth-term Lok Sabha MP has countered, accusing opposition parties of taking the Muslim votes for granted and paying little heed to their real concerns.
He said, "When every segment of the society has a semblance of political leadership, and that's acceptable to you but you don't want that Muslims should have a semblance of political voice, political leadership," he said.
Asked if he was referring to Congress, he said he is referring to all opposition parties, including BSP, SP and BJP.
"Yadav will be a leader, Musalmaan will be a beggar. Upper caste will be a leader, Musalmaan will be a beggar. How is that fair tell me," Owaisi said.
He lamented that the founding fathers of India had envisaged the country as a participatory democracy, "so where is the participation of Muslims?"
"When it is a question of India's integrity and security we will come forward and stand by the Indian military. But we do have to talk about the problems inside our homes, no?"
He pointed out that despite being the largest minority group in the country with nearly 15 per cent population, Muslims have only 4 per cent participation in legislatures and Parliament.
Asked why that is so, he said it's because political parties don't give tickets to Muslims to contest elections, and then people don't vote for Muslims.
He cautioned that India cannot achieve the "Viksit Bharat" goal by 2047 by keeping such a large community marginalised and weak. Political parties should stop looking at Muslims as vote banks, and instead work to uplift them, educate them, treat them fairly and give them jobs, he added.
"Our fight is that we don't want to remain voters. We want to be citizens."
Owaisi's attempts to emerge as a leader with an electoral appeal outside his citadel have met with some success as his party has won a few seats, especially those with a large Muslim population, in states like Bihar and Maharashtra in past elections.
His unabashed championing of Muslim grievances and aspirations has won him admirers in the community across the country.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
