Lucknow, Oct 19 AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi’s exhortation to Muslim youth to lead from the front and shun doing the bidding of political families has found many detractors, and criticism of peddling a polarising view of India as against a pluralistic one.
Addressing an election-related event in Rampur on Sunday, Owaisi said Muslim youths should emerge as political leaders instead of following the Nehru-Gandhi families or Yadav leaders.
“We will no longer make any Nehru, Gandhi, or any Yadav our leader. Young men and women standing in our ranks will become leaders,” he said.
Reacting, Samajwadi Party spokesperson Abbas Haider said Owaisi is free to contest elections anywhere in the country, but voters in Uttar Pradesh are politically aware and can decide what is best for the state.
Recalling AIMIM’s performance in the 2022 Assembly Polls, Haider told PTI, “such statements are not new” and accused Owaisi of pursuing “a divisive political agenda.”
“The people of Uttar Pradesh are looking towards leadership that brings society together, rather than forces that divide people along communal or other lines,” he said.
Haider said the SP, under its national president Akhilesh Yadav, has been raising issues concerning PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak), social justice, employment, equality, and constitutional rights.
Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput told PTI Videos his party could not engage politically with those who do not respect the legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi.
He also accused Owaisi of criticising Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and said such leaders could not be considered patriotic.
Rajput alleged that Owaisi used threatening language in his political speeches, yet repeatedly sought an electoral understanding with the INDIA bloc.
In Patna, RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha said Owaisi is entitled to his political views but questioned whether other parties should be denied the right to speak about representation.
Jha said India’s political and intellectual traditions accommodated such leaders as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, and B R Ambedkar.
“India was never of one colour. There was never a one-dimensional way of thinking. That is the pluralistic thinking of India,” he told PTI Videos.
In Delhi, Congress leader Udit Raj accused Owaisi of promoting a polarising narrative similar to that of the BJP.
“The BJP is becoming the contractor of Hindus, and he is becoming the contractor of Muslims,” Raj said, arguing that both were communal forces.
In his speech on Sunday, Owaisi said his party, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), wants to enable young people to become legislators and members of Parliament and do justice to marginalised communities.
“Abdul will become a leader, an MLA, an MP,” he said, referring to the common Muslim name.
Owaisi claimed that many within the Congress and the Samajwadi Party are not happy with the leadership reins resting with scions of the Nehru-Gandhi and Yadav families, as he challenged them to accept leaders such as Shaukat Ali and Mehtab Jahan.
He also accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of seeking to turn India into a Hindu nation.
The exchanges come ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, due in early 2027, with the dates yet to be announced.
The BJP-led government under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been in power since 2017, while the SP, led by Akhilesh Yadav, is seen as its principal challenger.
The SP is contesting in alliance with the Congress, while the Bahujan Samaj Party, led by Mayawati, though it has no seats in the current assembly, remains a key player.
Owaisi has repeatedly offered to join hands with opposition parties, including the SP, to challenge the BJP in the next elections. Akhilesh Yadav has indicated that his party intends to continue with its existing alliance partners.
AIMIM has a limited electoral presence in Uttar Pradesh and has frequently faced allegations from opposition leaders that it splits anti-BJP votes, an accusation Owaisi has denied.
In 2022, AIMIM secured a little over 0.40 per cent of the votes polled. In 2017, 37 of its 38 candidates lost their deposits.
(PTI News)
