On Rally Stage, A Owaisi Served Notice To Avoid Inflammatory Speech

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has been served notice by the police in poll-bound Maharashtra's Solapur over his speeches.

The notice was served to Mr Owaisi while he was on a crowded stage during a rally in Solapur assembly constituency.

Mr Owaisi was campaigning for Farooq Shabdi, the Solapur candidate of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).

The police in the notice instructed Mr Owaisi not to hurt sentiments of any community in his speeches and not to use inflammatory words. The AIMIM chief, who was seated on a chair, was seen reading the notice while at the same time talking on a mobile phone.

The notice did not refer to any particular instance when Mr Owaisi may have violated any law with his speeches.

He has been a fierce critic of the controversial Waqf Bill 2024. The AIMIM also welcomed the Supreme Court's directions on "bulldozer justice", which laid down national guidelines on demolition of properties. The Supreme Court had said the executive cannot become a judge, declare an accused guilty and demolish houses.

Mr Owaisi had said the Supreme Court order will "hopefully" prevent state governments from "collectively punishing Muslims and other marginalised groups".

The AIMIM chief had accused the BJP of glorifying 'bulldozer action'. "Suppose there are 50 houses in one neighbourhood, but the only house being demolished is of Abdur Rehman, then it is being claimed that not the whole locality is illegal but only his house. This is a prime example of creating hatred," he had said.

His party has criticised rival parties in Maharashtra for having no ideology left in them, pointing at the sheer complexity of the political landscape following the double split of the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and new alliances of parties that did not traditionally share the same ideology.

This was not the first time Mr Owaisi received notice over alleged problematic speeches. Before the general election earlier this year, the Election Commission had sent him notice for alleged communal statements at a meeting in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency.