Owaisi warns TRS, Congress on BJP\'s rise

Hyderabad: In a veiled reference, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi warned the TRS and the Congress to be wary of the BJP, which was attempting to gain ground in Telangana, and said they must share the responsibility of stopping the saffron party.

During a meeting with district unit leaders in Darussalam, the party headquarters on Sunday, Owaisi cautioned Muslims not to succumb to the designs of the BJP and right-wing groups. He attempted to dispel misconceptions about the saffron party's growth in the state.

Despite its overtures, he said, the BJP would remain in the third place in the state. However, he warned that the parties claiming to be in the first and second place — meaning the TRS and the Congress  — should be wary of its tactics. "By putting the entire burden on the Muslim leadership, these parties are abdicating their responsibilities. Those who act arrogantly should guard their positions," he said.

Owaisi questioned the TRS leaders' silence on Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statements on Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao taking a tantrik's advice. He said that TRS leaders should have challenged her allegation and questioned her if religious beliefs were patented by the BJP.

"Had I commented, I would have been labelled anti-Hindu. When a BJP leader commented, the TRS remained silent. Hadn't the BJP changed its name from Janata Party? What's the harm in changing TRS's name," he wondered.

Earlier, as part of the Milad-un-Nabi celebrations, Owaisi stated, in response to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's comment on population control, that Muslims used condoms more as a birth control measure, which was not acknowledged. He urged Bhagwat to double-check the data before discussing population control. He claimed that because Muslims use condoms the most, the incidence of “spacing” between two children was high.