Owaisi tells Mamata, Muslim voters not her 'jagir'

Hyderabad: In response to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's allegation that the BJP is giving money to a party from Hyderabad to divide votes in the ensuing Assembly elections, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi hit back at her on Wednesday saying the Muslim voters were not her "jagir (property)".

Owaisi, MP from Hyderabad, tweeted that Mamata Banerjee does not like those Muslims who think and speak for themselves.

Rubbishing the allegation by the Trinamool Congress leader, Owaisi asserted that nobody can buy him with money.

"So far you've only dealt with obedient Mir Jaffers & Sadiqs. You don't like Muslims who think & speak for themselves," tweeted the AIMIM president.

Owaisi alleged that the Trinamool Congress leader insulted the people of Bihar who voted for AIMIM. "Remember what happened to parties in Bihar that kept blaming their failures on "vote cutters" Muslim voters aren't your jagir," Owaisi wrote.

Mamata had said on Tuesday that to divide minority votes the BJP caught hold of a party from Hyderabad. "BJP gives them money and they are dividing votes. Bihar election has proved it," he said.

The AIMIM had won five seats in the Bihar Assembly elections last month. The party has been facing criticism from its opponents for dividing the 'secular' votes to help the BJP.

Owaisi, however, has dismissed the allegation, saying so-called secular parties were blaming him for their failure to defeat the BJP. Subsequent to the release of results, Owaisi had also come out with vote figures in constituencies where his party won and where it lost, to establish that AIMIM's contest alone did not adversely impact on non-BJP candidates. He had also blamed other parties including Congress for declining to form an alliance to collectively take on the BJP.

(With inputs from IANS)