In an apparent dig at the Congress party, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi asked voters to take money from Congress but vote for his party. The party chief was talking to a gathering in Sangareddy while campaigning for the upcoming municipal polls in Telangana, where he also said that though Congress talks of secularism, BJP and Congress are two sides of the same coin.
“On January 22, please use your votes wisely. People in the Congress may have a lot of money. Take it from them. You will be getting its worth through me. Just vote for me. If they are giving you money, take it from them. I ask the Congress to increase their rates. My price is not just Rs 2,000. I am worth more than that,” Owaisi reportedly said during the campaign.
Responding to criticism to the recent Tiranga rally which was held by the AIMIM in Hyderabad, Owaisi said they had to do it because the RSS had once declared the national flag to be inauspicious.
“We had to pick up the tiranga because those who held the flag before us had the tiranga in their hands but Godse in their minds,” he added.
Owaisi also said that he didn’t pick up the tiranga because he is afraid of the BJP or RSS. “The way you think is wrong. The baton is ours, the flag is ours and so is the nation,” he added.
Miffed by his comments against the Congress, former Congress minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir demanded that the State Election Commission (SEC) take suo motu action against Owaisi for encouraging people to ask for bribes.
Talking to media on Tuesday, Shabbir Ali said that being the head of a party, Owaisi should advise people against such practices.
“Everyone in the state knows that it is the TRS and AIMIM who lure voters with money. People also know your (Owaisi) price is more than Rs 2,000. That’s why your assets have increased from Rs 39.02 lakh in 2004 to Rs 13 crore in 2019. Congress never indulged in such practices as it believes in free and fair elections,” Shabbir Ali added.