New Delhi: AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi Saturday lashed out at political strategist Prashant Kishor, who has tied up with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the ongoing assembly polls, for purported claims about a culture of minority appeasement in the state.
In a series of tweets, Owaisi alleged that Muslims of Bengal remained lacking on many parameters, including government jobs and education.
Owaisi was referring to four audio clips released by the BJP Saturday where Kishor is purportedly heard addressing journalists during an interaction on the invite-only chat app Club House.
BJP social media chief Amit Malviya claimed Kishor had claimed during the interaction that internal surveys of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) predict a BJP win.
In one of the clips, Kishor is also purportedly heard talking about the politics of “minority appeasement” in India over the past 20 years. In Bengal the Congress, the Left and the TMC have all worked to secure the Muslim vote, he purportedly said, adding that politics in Bengal is driven by the belief that whoever Muslims vote for wins.
Kishor subsequently weighed in on the clips on Twitter, and accused the BJP of picking up select comments and distorting the context.
Taking to Twitter, Owaisi, whose party is contesting seven seats in its maiden Bengal outing this year, said rather than “introspecting” on how Mamata allowed communalism to take root in the state, Kishor is choosing to “scapegoat“ Muslims for her failures.
| @MamataOfficial's celebrated poll strategist is speaking his fact-free mind here. Instead of introspecting on how she allowed majoritarian communalism to take root in Bengal, he chooses to scapegoat Muslims for her failures. Muslims are 27% of the state BUT… [1/n] pic.twitter.com/era7FUlMcN
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) April 10, 2021
Also Read: Why Prashant Kishor can’t plug the breach inside Mamata’s fort in West Bengal
‘Allah protect us from such appeasement’
In a long Twitter thread, Owaisi said Muslims constitute 27 per cent of Bengal’s population but “have only 6% govt jobs”. “Only 11% of students in higher education are Muslims & 80% of rural Muslims earn less than ₹5k. 6 worst performing districts on healthcare have a Muslim population share of more than 25%,” he added.
….have only 6% govt jobs, only 11% of students in higher education are Muslims & 80% of rural Muslims earn less than ₹5k. 6 worst performing districts on healthcare have a Muslim population share of more than 25%. But their share in prison population is 37%. [2/n]
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) April 10, 2021
Owaisi also accused the Left, which ruled Bengal for over 30 years before Mamata routed them, of mistreating Muslims.
“People in Malda, Murshidabad, etc have to drink arsenic contaminated water. These are fruits of ‘blatant appeasement’,” he said.
People in Malda, Murshidabad, etc have to drink arsenic contaminated water. These are fruits of "blatant appeasement". The Left's mistreatment of Muslims is recorded by Kundu & Sachar Committee. Their most famous land reforms didn't reach Muslims. 3/4th of them are landless [3/n]
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) April 10, 2021
“Truth is TMC & Left’s most loyal voters have got nothing but humiliation for decades. In return for their loyalty @MamataOfficial has likened Muslims to cows to be milked. Now she has to beg Muslims to not divide their votes. If there’s appeasement then why this begging?” he added.
Owaisi also referred to the recent episode where Mamata Banerjee revealed her gotra. “Why does @MamataOfficial go everywhere to talk about her Gotra & high place in varna system? She told Muslims that she’ll protect them from Hindutva but her strategist is confessing how she let Hindutva grow. She’d one job & she failed. Allah protect us from such appeasement.”
Why does @MamataOfficial go everywhere to talk about her Gotra & high place in varna system? She told Muslims that she'll protect them from Hindutva but her strategist is confessing how she let Hindutva grow. She'd one job & she failed. Allah protect us from such appeasement[5/n] pic.twitter.com/N8x2ZLMeLw
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) April 10, 2021
Owaisi also questioned why not a single journalist attending the session had challenged the “blatant lie” of minority appeasement.
"Is it open?!"
Uh oh
Not a single journalist of this esteemed club found it important to challenge or interrogate this blatant lie of minority appeasement & majority alienation. But every evening we must patiently receive gyaan from them [n/n] pic.twitter.com/c5zu8RtlM1
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) April 10, 2021
Also Read: Prashant Kishor is seen as an election magician. But he wins only when in winning team
So? why are muslims soooo backward, despite appeasement? Because they got NO brains thats why. Muslims ke paas khaali dil hai, dimaag nahi
In Defense of Prashant
In his conversation with the journalists, Prashant was wearing the hat of a psephologist and a political analyst setting aside his role for a moment as a poll strategist for Mamata. Reflecting on the issues influencing elections, Prashant did mention the politics of “minority appeasement” in India over the past 20 years. Then he went on to explain how the Congress, the Left and the TMC have all worked to secure the Muslim votes. What’s so wrong about it that Owaisi is lambasting him? He should vent out his anger against the Congress, the Left and the TMC for not improving the lot of the Muslims. If the BJP wins in WB (the result is not out yet), it would primarily be because Modi, and his party, the BJP, challenged the long-held belief that whoever Muslims voted for would win the elections. And that’s the reason these non-BJP politicians were indulging in “minority appeasement” without actually delivering goods.
Against this background, Modi’s slogan, “Sabka saath, sabka vikas aur sabka vishwas” (cooperation, development and confidence of all) seems to have struck the right chord with many Muslim voters as well. Now, whether the BJP, once in power in WB, will be able to fulfil its promises or not will remain to be seen — enlightened voters of WB voted for a change. Another point Prashant was making is that people nationwide have more trust in the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, than in the BJP, and that’s the bitter pill communal politicians like Owaisi, Mamata and the likes couldn’t swallow.
As hoped for, Prashant’s consultancy company might not have been able to deliver a victory to Mamata’s TMC, but the socio-political dynamics he was presenting were honest and no different from the conclusions of any keen observer of Indian politics including West Bengal’s.
Ha ha ha !
Will Prashant Kishore be dumped by Captain Amarinder Singh, the chief minister of Punjab ? He has already lost West Bengal elections. Key question now.
That’s it! Now it’s clear – 2 Mai Didi gai!!!