AIMIM to fight Assembly elections in Bengal alone, says Asaduddin Owaisi

Berhampore/Kolkata: Backtracking from his pledge to support Peerzada Abbas Siddiqui, the influential cleric of Furfura Sharif, after his outfit Indian Secular Front (ISF) allied with the Congress and the Left Front, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday declared that his party would fight the Assembly elections in West Bengal alone. 

Kickstarting his campaign at Sagardighi in Murshidabad, Owaisi announced the names of two candidates: Noore Mehboob Alam from Sagardighi and Asadul Sheikh from the Jangipur Assembly constituencies in the district, with a promise to field more candidates in the next few days.

Asked about his previous pledge to support Siddiqui, the AIMIM chief later said, "No one is needed. We will fight the polls on our own strength." According to him, the ‘Sangjukta Morcha’, the alliance of the Congress-Left-ISF, would fail as the Muslims were upset because of the Left. AIMIM sources indicated that Owaisi has plans to field candidates at 13 seats in Murshidabad and four in Malda district.

Lashing out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Owaisi earlier told a rally, "The PM claimed in Bangladesh on Friday that he followed satyagraha for the independence of that country. If you did that, then why are the people of Murshidabad called Bangladeshis?"

He tore into Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, alleging, "She claims she worked for the Muslims but she has done nothing for them. The Muslims of Bengal are still lagging far behind in education, employment and health sectors. I found the people of Sagardighi facing scarcity of pure drinking water despite having a TMC MLA twice. Besides most bidi workers are not getting proper wages in Jangipur."

Calling Mamata Banerjee's opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act an “eyewash”, Owaisi slammed her for using the Muslims for her votebank politics and accused the BJP of trying to divide the state between the Hindus and Muslims.