MIM all set to enter poll fray in TS, Raj; Asad vouches for KCR as hat-trick CM

Hyderabad: Following the announcement of Telangana’s Assembly election schedule, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi asserted that K Chandrashekar Rao will be victorious once again and serve as the Chief Minister for another term in Telangana. Asad stated that the party will be contesting elections in Telangana and Rajasthan and soon he will be declaring candidates for Telangana and has already declared three candidates for Rajasthan.

He explained how his party, which is ready for upcoming polls, was focusing not only in Telangana but also in Rajasthan. “Both the States have different issues, but issues concerned with minorities were important, as they still lag behind in terms of ‘social empowerment’. We will soon declare candidates for Telangana. Our party is prepared for the elections, as our party works throughout the year and has been working for the last 4.5 years. I am sure that in Telangana where we have our candidates and where we will fight, people will favour our candidates as we have appealed to the citizens to vote for ‘Kite’ and to support BRS in constituencies where MIM is not contesting,” he stated.

Asad asserted “For the State’s peace and prosperity and to save the State from ‘RSS’ (referring Congress and BJP), vote for K Chandrashekar Rao and he will definitely be victorious once again and serve as the Chief Minister for a consecutive third term. We will make sure that a peaceful election takes place in the spirit of the election as we want a free and fair election”.

Speaking about the elections in Rajasthan, Owiasi said that in Rajasthan, elections are on November 23 and they have already declared three candidates there. He said the Majlis would be contesting in Rajasthan for the first time under the leadership of Jameel Khan, a party president in Rajasthan.

Responding to questions on how Congress was targeting MIM while terming it as B-Team of BJP, Asad recalled how his party supported the Congress during 2004 and later in 2008 despite the fact that left parties ended their support. “It is their height of hypocrisy, political arrogance, and intellectual dishonesty,” he felt.

The Election Commission on Monday announced the schedule for assembly polls in Mizoram on November 7, Chhattisgarh on November 7 and 17, Madhya Pradesh on November 17, Rajasthan on November 23, and Telangana on November 30.

Speaking about the Israel-Hamas conflict, Owaisi said, “A late BJP leader once said about Palestine that land worth billions has been acquired. We had released a postage stamp for solidarity with Palestine.”

Owaisi was ostensibly referring to a viral video of former prime minister and late BJP stalwart, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in which he speaks in favour of the Palestinian cause. Asad also referred to the Oslo Accords of 1993 and 1995 between Israel and Palestine.

“The Oslo Agreement came into existence which said that in the West Bank and Gaza, an independent Palestinian country would be made. It has been 30 years now and the world knows that there is the Al-Aqsa mosque. The Gaza Strip has been blocked for the last 16 years. It is an open-air prison,” he added.

On Saturday, Hamas launched a “surprise attack” on Israel, firing a barrage of rockets into the southern and central parts of the country. So far, over 1100 people have been killed in the war and thousands have been injured and displaced.