As Asaduddin Owaisi campaigns in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, urging Muslims to look beyond the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress, a Congress leader from Telangana, Owaisi’s home state, on Friday accused the AIMIM chief of advocating a political strategy in UP that he had never implemented in Telangana.Mohammed Waliullah Sameer, Congress in-charge for Owaisi’s Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency, questioned how many independent Muslim leaders the AIMIM had nurtured beyond its traditional strongholds in Telangana.Also Read: Owaisi urges ‘Muslims voters’ to build own leadership, takes aim at SP and Congress“Owaisi is telling Muslims in Uttar Pradesh that ‘Abdul’ should no longer spread the carpet for others and should himself become a leader. Fine. But before giving this advice in Azamgarh or Rampur, he should tell us what happened to Abdul in Telangana. Why was he never allowed to move beyond a few selected constituencies?” PTI quoted Sameer as saying.“Muslims certainly need more representation. They need more MLAs, MPs, ministers, mayors, councillors and party office-bearers. But the real question is whether Owaisi has expanded that representation or simply monopolised it in a limited geography,” he added.Sameer pointed out that the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) contested only nine of Telangana’s 119 Assembly constituencies in the 2023 elections, accusing the party of supporting the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the remaining 110 seats.“If Owaisi genuinely believed that Muslim youth were being denied platforms by larger parties, why did AIMIM itself leave 110 assembly constituencies ‘untouched’ in the 2023 polls, and were there no capable Muslim lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs, social workers, women or educated youngsters in those constituencies?” the Congress leader questioned.
“AIMIM had, in fact, supported the BRS in most of the constituencies where it did not field candidates. Owaisi was telling Muslims in Uttar Pradesh to stop depending on others, but in Telangana he had voluntarily handed over political space to another party,” he added.Taking a swipe at Owaisi, Sameer said Hyderabad should have become the “strongest advertisement for Owaisi’s political model” if the AIMIM chief’s claims were “genuine”.“AIMIM has elected representatives in the municipal corporation and the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency. If that model had truly transformed Muslim political power, Hyderabad should today be producing dozens of leaders Instead, political influence has remained concentrated, while most ordinary Muslims continue to struggle with issues related to education, employment, housing, healthcare and civic infrastructure,” he stated.The Uttar Pradesh assembly elections are scheduled to be held in February-March 2027, with the Congress expected to contest in alliance with the SP, its current ally.