Asaduddin Owaisi pats Shibu Soren and Hemant Soren for win

Hyderabad: MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi congratulated Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leaders Shibu Soren and Hemant Soren for their electoral victory in the Jharkhand Assembly elections. He hoped that Mr Hemant Soren would fulfil the hopes of the people of Jharkhand.

Speaking to the media, Mr Owaisi expressed his thanks to the people of Jharkhand who voted in favour of his party’s candidates. “We could not win there but we will strive hard to gain the trust of the people, remove our weaknesses and win next time. We will work in Jharkhand like other states,” he said. The MIM had fielded candidates in the state this time.

Replying to a question regarding the change in the stand of AP Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy with regard to the National Register of Citizens (NRC), he said “He is my friend and will remain a friend. He is administrating a state, he has to face many constraints being a CM and it is not easy. The Telugu Desam government had made that state indigent but we are thankful that his party has taken a decision not to implement NRC. We would appeal him to consider the NPR, which will be exercised before the NRC.”

Mr Owaisi criticised BJP Bengaluru South MP Tejaswi Surya who referred to people opposing the new citizenship law and the NRC as “illiterates and puncture wallas”. He said it exposed Mr Surya’s narrow-mindedness. He said, “the tyre of the BJP will be punctured very soon as has happened in Jharkhand.”