AAP leader Shazia Ilmi on a 3-day campaign in Hyderabad
Kejriwal is too busy to visit Andhra Pradesh, says the AAP leader
By : kruthi gonwar
Update: 2014-04-28 03:28 GMT
Hyderabad: On a Sunday morning, more than 700 people gathered at Karwan near the Golconda Fort to hear Aam Admi Party’s top leader Shazia Ilmi talk about equality and equitable development. As part of her three-day campaign in Hyderabad, she has been talking to people on the streets about the aam aadmi’s role in building a better society.
She recently made the controversial statement that Muslims are too secular and should be more communal, and has defended her statement by claiming a different interpretation of the word ‘communal.’
“Communal means of a community and because many people have this narrow context of its usage that does not mean my context is also narrow. I said Muslims should think of their own good. When I go to Jat villages, I say Jats have to think not to elect a Jat leader but for a good leader. Now, I am asking votes for Arvind Kejriwal and he is not a Muslim. It’s just a remark and was in an ironical sense. The Election Commission did not look into it bec-ause it was not admissible,” she said.
She said people who want change will vote for the AAP. “Everybody complains about corrupt candidates and we have tried giving them an alternative. AAP candidates have no corruption charges against them. But if people think the TD or MIM will deliver results for them, they will vote for them.”
She was asked why AAP president Arvind Kejriwal had not visited the state so far and rep-lied that he was very busy and she was here instead of him. “It’s good that I am here because I love the Paradise biryani. I am going to pack some to take back,” she laughed.
In November 2013 she offered to withdraw as a candidate for the Delhi Assembly elections following a sting operation that showed her accepting funds without proper verification.
“The raw footage was out two days later and it was disproved. I got fixed in a fake sting ope-ration. The media coverage has not been very encouraging, but it’s fine because the more the media is maligning us, the more we are getting sympathy,” she claims.
Indicating the burqa-clad women who are AAP candidates and will be contesting this time, Ms Ilmi said, “Even I had to struggle a lot and my mother wears a burqa. It’s a personal choice. If people want to they can wear one. However, they should be educated and have a role in decision making.”
Her brother is a BJP candidate. She says she is not on talking terms with him as he has been “very damaging”.