No 'Modi wave'; non-BJP, non-Congress front likely to form govt: Owaisi
Hyderabad: Claiming there is no 'Modi wave' in this Lok Sabha polls like in 2014, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi Thursday said a 'non-BJP, non-Congress' front is likely to form the government at the Centre with a regional leader emerging as a prime minister.
Owaisi, a three-time MP from the Hyderabad parliamentary constituency, also said the upcoming Lok Sabha polls will be an "open election" and there will be a fight for every single seat of the total 543 constituencies.
"Unlike 2014, there is no Modi wave this time. It is an open election and there will be a fight on every seat, including Hyderabad," he told PTI in an interview.
Owaisi, who will be contesting from Hyderabad seat again this time, said his party All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) is definitely a part of the 'non-BJP, non-Congress' front led by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) founder and chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao.
This front would be necessary to represent India's political diversity and there are many regional leaders who are much more capable than Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Owaisi added.
He claimed that the BJP out of "desperation" is bringing national security narrative in the poll discourse to "hide its failures", but people will not fall again on his 'jumlas' (false promises) and will vote responsibly.
"There was surgical strike, then Balakote air strike and now anti-satellite missile test (Mission Shakti) -- the poll narrative is changing everyday. All these are signs of desperation to win this election" Owaisi said.
"Why it took five years for such a crucial test? Why he waited for election time. Was he waiting some auspicious moment? Was he was worried about losing space along with people and TV? Why did he choose this time just days before polls? he asked, adding that the PM is only doing "jumlebazi" to divert focus from unemployment, inflation and other issues.
As the BJP's defeat is inevitable, going forward, its poll discourse will therefore change everyday, he stated.
"You will hear how PM's poll narrative will change going forward. Modi will warm up in the first phase and the debate will heat up from the second phase till the festival of Ramadan. But people will not fall for his gimmicks," he said.
Asked about the 'non-BJP, non-Congress' front, the AIMIM chief said, "I am definitely a part of it and I am supporting the TRS on this issue."
He, however, did not share details how the 'non-BJP, non-Congress' front will take shape post polls nor did he disclosed probable prime ministerial candidate who can lead the front, even as he expressed confidence that the regional parties will play a decisive role in the national politics.
Owaisi, referring to a report, said there is a direct fight between the BJP and the Congress in 100 out of the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies. But in over 320 seats, there is a triangular fight between the BJP, Congress and the regional parties.
"Regional parties will play key role in national politics. We tried the 280-plus NDA government, we tried 210 government of UPA, What came out of it? I want India's diversity should be represented. Wait for the results," he said.
The BJP will not gain much in the five southern states, which comprise 130 Lok Sabha constituencies, except for a few seats in Karnataka. The saffron party is likely to lose its lone seat in Secunderabad this time, Owaisi added.
Asked about the TRS considered as a B-team of the BJP that could support the saffron party post polls, Owaisi said, "Not at all. This narrative is given by the Congress. It is completely wrong. They have allergy with regional parties."
Expressing concern over the lack of political representation to the Muslim community, he said, there was no single Muslim MP in 280 seats won by the BJP in 2014 general election as the saffron force wants to run democracy represented by only the majority communities.
"If I talk against Modi that does not mean I am against majority communities. I believe a majoritarian form of democracy will not run in Hindustan. There is no place for this in India's Constitution. I was never against majority communities. I am against BJP and RSS, I will continue to be," he added.
The Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat is a stronghold of the AIMIM and the party has won this seat in the last eight elections.
The Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat has seven Assembly segments -- Malakpet, Karwan, Goshamahal, Charminar, Chandrayangutta, Yakutpura and Bahadurpura.
Out of the seven assembly segments, six are currently held by the AIMIM and one by the BJP.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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