Asad ups the ante, says MIM will contest from seats of its choice

HYDERABAD: In a fresh salvo at ally BRS, Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday said chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led party was free to contest from any constituency, including Aurangabad and Nanded, but AIMIM will also contest from seats of its choice.
The AIMIM chief's reply was in response to media queries on BRS foray into Nanded and Aurangabed where it had held public meetings and likelihood of the pink party fielding candidates.
Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat is currently held by Imtiaz Jaleel of the AIMIM.
"Election means there should be a contest. We have never complained about any party contesting from our seat because we do not fear defeat. Let them (BRS) contest from anywhere they want and we (AIMIM) will contest from wherever we want," Owaisi said.
In 2019, the AIMIM had contested Hyderabad, Aurangabad and Kishanganj (Bihar) seats, winning the first two and losing the third polling nearly 3 lakh votes.
"We are consulting our party leaders and other stakeholders in various constituencies in Telangana. Depending upon their feedback, we will decide how many seats to contest at an appropriate time," Owaisi said.
On his younger brother Akbaruddin's statement on the floor of Telangana assembly that they would contest more seats, Owaisi said: "It's not Akbar but I who will take a final call as the president of the party."
‘Don’t take minorities for granted’
Also, Akbar had said he would talk to his party president about it. Don’t try to create rift between brothers,” he said. Regarding his outburst against the state government, Owaisi said minorities should not be taken for granted.
“While tenders have been called for 31 km stretch of metro rail from Hi-Tec City to Shamshabad airport at a cost of Rs 5,680 crore, my request to BRS government to complete the 6 km corridor in Old City is still pending. If the Brahmin Sadan has been constructed, then complete the Islamic Centre too. Give Muslim Bandhu to one per cent BPL Muslims,” he said.
The AIMIM chief said he exposed the strategy of BJP leaders and Union home minister Amit Shah’s to get votes by claiming ‘car’ (BRS symbol) steering was in the hands of Owaisi. “I listed out thousands of crores being spent by BRS government on temples. Why don’t BJP leaders talk about this? Shah announced that the 4 per cent Muslim quota will be scrapped. I called upon SCs, STs and OBCs to realise how PM Modi and Shah kept hundreds of posts of additional, deputy and assistant secretaries vacant in central government. Owaisi is not stopping them from filling up the posts,” he said.