Says there is no better country for Muslims than India and there are no good friends for Muslims than Hindus
Hyderabad: Former Union minister Shahnawaz Hussain has called the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) as a B-team for the Congress for sharing dais in Chennai for a nonexistent nonissue like delimitation.
He claimed that the NDA will win over 200 seats in the coming Bihar Assembly elections, but the AIMIM will score a zero like in the Delhi Assembly elections. The BJP leader, who was in Hyderabad to take part in the Bihar-Sneh Milan programme, discussed several issues with Deccan Chronicle.
Excerpts from his interview:
Q. The Congress, BRS, DMK and other parties have held a meeting in Chennai expressing the fear that the south would lose seats in the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats was done. What is the BJP’s stand?
South Indian states will not lose even a single seat. In fact, the Narendra Modi government will focus more on the south to help it in getting its due share. Moreover, the Centre has not carried out the Census, (which is required for delimitation) and a delimitation commission has not been constituted by Parliament. So how could the southern states lose the seats?
Q. The Congress and BRS have been sensitive to these issues. Why is the BJP silent on it?
The BRS is a B-team for the Congress. They made similar gimmicks at the time of Lok Sabha elections by stating that the Constitution would be changed and reservations for BC, SC and STs would be removed if the BJP came to power. The BJP is in power for more than 14 months at the Centre, but nothing was changed. In fact, the BJP has empowered these communities after coming to power.
Q. The DMK has accused the Centre of ignoring the South and imposing Hindi? What are the BJP’s plans for the south?
South India is playing a key role in the Narendra Modi government. Many leaders from the South including Nirmala Sitharaman, S. Jaishankar and G. Kishan Reddy have important roles in the Modi government. Is it ignoring the south?
The BJP, in fact, promotes mother tongues. We are promoting Tamil and Telugu by holding major events like Tamil Samagam, Tamil-Kashi Samagam, Telugu-Kashi Samagam, etc.
By raising these issues, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is trying to divert the attention of people from his failures, family rule, liquor scam. It is nothing but diversionary politics but these things will not work in the coming Assembly polls.
Q. What are the NDA’s prospects in the coming Bihar elections, as the main opposition RJD is alleging that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is suffering age-related problems?
The NDA will cross 200 seats in the Bihar elections. Basic infrastructure like roads, bridges and power supply situation has improved under the NDA rule. Though Bihar is trailing in industrial growth, the state has made remarkable progress in the last few years. Bihar stands at the top in the country's grain-based ethanol production. During my term as the industry minister, the Centre had set up 17 ethanal-based plants.
Q. Will Nitish Kumar campaign for the NDA?
Nitish Kumar is a seasoned politician like Chandrababu Naidu. He is a big asset. There is a big difference between a Ranji player and a Test and Nitish is a big international player for Bihar. He has toured over 200 Assembly constituencies. Tejaswi Yadav is insulting a big leader like Nitish Kumar. Raising the health issue of Nitish Kumar is a big conspiracy. He has toured 32 districts. He is a dynamic leader.
Q. The AIMIM emerged as a key player in the last Bihar Assembly elections. How worried is the BJP over his growing influence in Bihar?
Four out of five MLAs elected from the AIMIM have left the party. The Delhi Assembly elections have proved that the AIMIM is a zero. He (Owaisi) failed to win a single seat. He will face a similar fate in Bihar. He is a hero for only the constituency — that is Hyderabad — and zero in the rest of the country. He sits in his mahal and provokes poor Muslims by creating rifts in society. He wants tension. He wants Muslims to confront others. Owaisi is the eighth Nizam.
Q. Owaisi says that the Waqf Amendment Bill is against Muslims and the government wants to take away Waqf properties.
The Waqf Amendment Bill will not take away either a khankha or a masjid or a graveyard. The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Muslim Personal Law Board, AIMIM and the Congress have been playing politics by raking up the Bill. There is no better country for Muslims than India and there are no good friends for Muslims than Hindus.
