AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi slams BJP over Kashmir issue and Ramayan Express, accuses party of raking up Hindutva again

Kishanganj (Bihar): The rate of population growth among Muslims in India has declined over the years and claims of the possibility that the minority community may outnumber Hindus is “aimed at spreading hatred”, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi said in Kishanganj on Thursday. “Studies have confirmed that rate of population growth among Muslims has declined with spread of education and awareness. Moreover, even if Muslim population continues to grow at this rate and the Hindu population remains static, it will take 200 years for the minority community to acquire a size equal to that of the majority community,” he said. “All these canards that Muslims marry many times, sire many children, and that they divorce their wives - are aimed at spreading hatred and divert the people’s attention from real issues like employment and education”, he added. [caption id=“attachment_3481597” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi. CNN-News18[/caption] Addressing a press conference here, the AIMIM president also trained his gun at both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. The Hyderabad MP expressed resentment that Congress president Rahul Gandhi visited about 50 temples in Gujarat during assembly polls there, but did not go to any mosque. “This (Rahul Gandhi visiting temples only) made it clear as to where do people like us stand in their scheme of things,” he said. The BJP-led central government has been a complete failure on all fronts, he alleged. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan of sabka saath sabka vikas was nothing but a high-tech drama aimed at getting votes. Now, with the announcement of Ramayan Express connecting Ayodhya with Sri Lanka, the BJP is back to its core agenda of Hindutva,” he claimed. “The promise of providing employment to two crore youths has turned out to be a sham. Prices of fuel are soaring. Despite thumping of chests over the surgical strike (in Pak Occupied Kashmir in 2016), terrorist activities are continuing unabated. Jawans are losing their lives. Kashmir is on the boil,” Owaisi said. He described the Congress as an “arrogant” party that thinks it is born to rule. “This thinking has brought it on the verge of annihilation,” the AIMIM chief said. He also attacked the Congress for charging the AIMIM with having played the role of a “spoiler” in many states. “We did not contest a single seat in Karnataka and Gujarat. Yet the Congress failed to come up with a fine performance in either state,” he said. On Bihar, he said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar betrayed the mandate of 2015, when he got votes in the name of fighting the BJP. “From being a potential Prime Ministerial candidate himself, he (Kumar) has now ended up sitting in the lap of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Owaisi said. The AIMIM chief declined to answer queries on a section within the Congress favouring the return of Nitish Kumar to the Grand Alliance - comprising the Janata Dal (United), the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress - that had registered a huge victory in the 2015 assembly elections.