There is no difference between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee because they are "two sides of the same coin", said All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday.
Speaking to Aaj Tak in an exclusive interview, Asaduddin Owaisi said the manner in which Mamata Banerjee is speaking these days exposes her badly. "I am thankful to her for speaking in that language. She is showing that there is no real difference between her party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)."
Asaduddin Owaisi was referring to Mamata Banerjee's recent comments and actions where she allegedly sought to elucidate her Hindu identity by reciting the Chandipath or telling her gotra at election rallies.
Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Asaduddin Owaisi said, "He goes to Bangladesh and says he took part in satyagraha [for Bangladesh's liberation]. Then his own people say one crore Muslims in India are illegal immigrants. What does that tell you? BJP is going full on with their Hindutva ideology."
'Contesting Bengal polls to fill political vacuum'
Asked why his party decided to field candidates in West Bengal this time, Owaisi said his party had done the groundwork beforehand.
"We had already established our party in Bengal. To say we have fielded candidates because of our success in Bihar, wouldn't be the correct way of putting it." In last year's Bihar Assembly election, the AIMIM registered an impressive performance and won five seats.
Another reason for contesting the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election, Owaisi said, was that there is an "immense scope and political vacuum" in the state.
"There is a real churning going on among the Muslims, especially the youth, that we want our own identity and political leadership. In Bengal, at present you have 53 odd Muslim MLAs in the Assembly. But data shows the socio-economic condition of Muslims is pathetic in the state. No party has done anything [for Muslims]," he said.
Owaisi claimed that 16 per cent Muslim children in the state aren't enrolled in schools. "After Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, West Bengal has the dishonourable distinction that most Muslim kids are either school dropouts or not in school at all," he claimed.
Mamata helped strengthen BJP in Bengal: Owaisi
Attacking Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress (TMC), he said the chief minister should tell how many schools or hospitals were set up in area with 30-40 per cent Muslim population in her 10-year rule.
Owaisi also blamed Mamata Banerjee for "strengthening" the BJP in Bengal by "giving ground" to the saffron party. "You gave them ground here and 18 of their candidates are Lok Sabha MPs. Now, they [BJP] want to win the whole state."
He said there is no doubt that the TMC fields Muslim candidates, but they are “nameless and dumb".
Owaisi alleged, "They can't open their mouth around Mamata Banerjee. When the minority affairs minister was asked, why hasn't the word 'Muslim' been mentioned in TMC's election manifesto, he was shocked. He said, 'I don't know'."
Mamata's appeal to Muslims is crass hypocrisy: Owaisi
Referring to Mamata Banejree's recent appeals to the Muslims to not split their votes after listening to the BJP, Owaisi said it was "crass hypocrisy and opportunism".
"This is her communal behaviour. She had said Muslims are like cows, can kick them too, and milk them too. Why don't you see us as humans? Why do you think of us as animals? Why don't you ask the Hindu Brahmin community to vote unitedly for you? Why don't you say the same to those from your gotra? Muslims are tired of this drama," he said.