Has the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen a secret alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party?
The answer is yes, according to Leader of Opposition in Telangana State Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir. He said on Tuesday that the secret understanding between MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi and BJP national president Amit Shah was no more a secret.
He pointed out to the revelations made by Gujarat BJP MLA Yatin Oza that MIM had a secret pact with the BJP during Bihar elections.
Shabbir Ali said that the MIM has been acting as the 'Muslim Morcha' of BJP and Sangh Parivar since last general elections.
"In the guise of party's expansion, MIM fielded its candidates on selective seats so as to divide non-BJP votes. In Maharashtra Assembly elections, MIM contested on 24 seats. Although it won only two seats, it divided Muslim votes in other seats. The division directly helped BJP-Shiv Sena win eight seats. It tried to implement the same strategy in Bihar Assembly elections, but MIM was outrightly rejected by the people of Bihar," the Congress leader said.
Shabbir Ali asked Amit Shah and Owaisi to clarify on the meeting which they had before Bihar elections.
"MIM contested Bihar elections only to benefit the BJP. If Owaisi was serious, then MIM should have contested in entire Bihar. Initially, MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi announced that his party will contest on all 24 seats in Muslim-dominated Seemanchal. Finally, it contested only on six seats out of 243 constituencies in Bihar. All this was done at the instance of BJP leadership only to polarise elections," he said.
"Owaisi brothers, alongside Sangh Parivar, are on a mission to divide the country on communal lines. By playing the Hindu-Muslim card, the BJP-MIM combine is aiming at political gains. They were successful in Maharashtra, failed in Bihar and now adopting a similar approach in Uttar Pradesh elections. In Telangana too, both BJP and MIM are supplementing each other," he said.
