Does BJP use same language when PM visits Arab nations: Owaisi on ‘vote jihad’
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (PTI): AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday slammed the BJP over its leaders’ “vote jihad” remark and asked if they use the same language when the prime minister visits Arab countries.
The Hyderabad MP accused the ruling party of deflecting focus from core issues like farmer suicides in Maharashtra. He went door-to-door in Aurangabad Central constituency in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and interacted with voters.
AIMIM has nominated Naser Siddiqui from the constituency, where he faces sitting MLA Pradip Jaiswal of Shiv Sena and Balasaheb Thorat of Shiv Sena (UBT), for the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections.
“Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is talking about ‘vote jihad’ in the state. But do they use the same language when the prime minister (Narendra Modi) visits Arab countries,” asked the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief.
He said 324 farmers have died by suicide in “Aurangabad (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) division", but no one is talking about it.
“Instead, Fadnavis is remembering ‘vote jihad’, They are just targeting only one community. They should answer why they failed to ensure reservation for the Maratha community,” he said.
Owaisi also appealed to Marathas, Muslims and Dalits to stay united.
“Looking at the political landscape of Maharashtra, it is the need of the hour that Marathas, Muslims and Dalits stay united and live in harmony,” he said.
The Aurangabad Central constituency is a part of the state’s Marathwada region, where activist Manoj Jarange has been agitating demanding quota for Marathas in education and government jobs.
Asked about the allegations that some NGOs in Maharashtra are working to propagate ‘vote jihad’, Owaisi said anyone can campaign in an election by abiding by the law. “Where did ‘jihad’ come in this,” he asked.
Targeting the opposition bloc Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), senior BJP leader Fadnavis had claimed earlier that “vote jihad” was witnessed in 14 out of the 48 constituencies in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha elections.
“In the Dhule constituency, the BJP candidate led with 1.9 lakh votes in five assembly seats… However, our candidate lost the election by just 4,000 votes because of voting in the Malegaon Central assembly segment,” he had said, referring to what he called ‘vote jihad’.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
