Congress shall not teach us secularism, Asaduddin Owaisi said (File)
Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi whose AIMIM has formed a separate front with former union minister Devendra Prasad Yadav for Bihar elections, dismissed charge of fighting the state polls to help BJP and said rather its because of the RJD that the saffron party-led NDA has been winning in the state.
Mr Owaisi also hit out at the Congress, saying in Maharashtra it contested polls with All India Majlis-eIttehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) but later joined hands with Shiv Sena "demolishers of the Babri mosque" to form a coalition government in the western state.
"Congress shall not teach us secularism," the Hyderabad MP told PTI-Bhasha in an interview in Patna.
Mr Owaisi left Patna Sunday after spending two days during which he discussed strategy of his front for the state elections.
Making a scathing attack on the RJD for dubbing him "vote katua" (spoiler) of secular votes, the AIMIM chief asked how his party was responsible for their complete rout in the 2019 general election in Bihar which it claims as its "garh" (fort).
Mr Owaisi and Mr Yadav, who is heading Samajwadi Janata Dal (D), have formed UDSA (United Democratic Secular Alliance) for October-November state polls.
"What happened to these so called 'thekedars' (feudal lords) of the anti-BJP votes in the 2019 general elections in Bihar?" he asked while scoffing at the RJD-Congress for claiming themselves as the champions of minorities and secular votes in Bihar.
"I fail to understand as on what basis they claim sole ownership of Muslims votes in Bihar," he said taking a swipe at the RJD and the grand old party, allies in Mahagathbandhan.
The Grand Alliance comprising RJD, Congress and some smaller regional parties had received drubbing in the last Parliamentary polls in Bihar in the hands of the NDA which won all but one seat of Kisanganj out of total 40 seats in the state.
Congress had bagged Kisanganj seat, while Lalu Prasad's party for the first time had failed to even open its account in the Lok Sabha elections in the state.
Ahead of current Bihar elections, Hindustani Awam Morcha of former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, RLSP and just two days back Vikashheel Insaan Party (VIP) have parted company with the grand alliance.
Mr Owaisi said they are in touch with several other anti-NDA and anti-grand alliance parties to fight the state elections with greater strength.
Asked if they were holding talks with Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) president Upendra Kushwaha, who has floated a three-party front with Mayawati's BSP for the Bihar polls, the AIMIM chief said USDA convenor Devendra Yadav is holding parleys with other parties.
He said people of Bihar saw 15 years of "misrule" of RJD and an equal period under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who "failed" to bring any substantial change in the state.
"People of Bihar are feeling suffocated today due to misrule of the two major alliances in the past and looking for a better alternative...we will try to fulfill their hope with a strong coalition of secular forces," the AIMIM chief said.
After winning a Muslims dominated Kisanganj assembly seat in by-poll early this year, Mr Owaisi's party is keen on fighting some seats in the Seemanchal areas having large population of members of the minority community to increase its footprint in Bihar.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)