Asaduddin Owaisi, a Lok Sabha MP, criticised Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday ahead of the civic elections for the city on a number of issues, including healthcare, garbage management and water supply.
Among other things, Owaisi charged Kejriwal with being mute on the Bilkis Bano case and the Uniform Civil Code. When Bilkis Bano was sexually assaulted during the Gujarat riots in 2002, she was nine months pregnant, and the recent release of the defendants in the case had greatly angered the public.
“I think if there is a competition about who makes bigger false claims – (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi or Kejriwal – they are equals. It was this Delhi CM who made no attempts to stop riots (in the city in 2020). He just sat near Mahatma Gandhi’s statue to protest,” Owaisi claimed, stepping up the attack on Kejriwal. “He even talks about putting Lakshmi-Ganesh photos on notes. Now the younger brother is making an appeal to the elder brother, and the elder brother is happy that the younger one is following in his footsteps,” the Hyderabad MP further said, without naming Arvind Kejriwal and PM Modi.
Arvind Kejriwal had come under fire for his ‘request’ to the Prime Minister for putting the photos of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesh on currency notes. “India is a country where all religions are respected. Even if a person is an agnostic, he too is respected.”
“When the stir at Shaheen Bagh (against Citizenship Amendment Act) was gaining wide attention, he made remarks such as – ‘I would have finished the protests in half hour if it was in my control’,” Owaisi said.
“When the first Covid wave was on, the Delhi Chief Minister was among those who blamed the Tablighi Jamaat for the surge in case. A special bulletin used to come highlighting the Jamaat cases separately,” the AIMIM chief said.
His remarks were made when he canvassed voters ahead of Sunday’s MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) elections.
The AAP wants to take over the MCD, which is now under the authority of the BJP. Vote tallying will take place on December 7.