AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi
Credit: PTI Photo
Kishanganj, Bihar: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday accused RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his son Tejashwi Yadav of not responding to requests for a tie-up ahead of the Bihar assembly polls, saying the party only insisted on being treated as equals and did not express any wish for ministerial berths.
The Hyderabad MP made the remark at a rally in Kishanganj district, which has a substantial Muslim population, as part of his four-day 'Seemanchal Nyay Yatra'.
"Our Bihar president Akhtarul Iman wrote three letters to Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav expressing our wish to join the I.N.D.I.A. bloc. We had demanded only six seats. We are not interested in any ministerial berth. We only wanted to be treated as equals and not as slaves in the joint fight against BJP and RSS. But, so far, no response has come from them," he said.
Blaming the RJD’s "indifference", Owaisi said the Muslim community lacked dedicated leadership in Bihar.
"Unlike every caste, Muslims do not have leaders of their own. You may find leaders of Yadavs, Kushwahas, Kurmis, Manjhis, Rajputs, Paswans and all other castes. But Muslims do not have leaders for themselves," claimed the AIMIM chief, whose party won five seats in the last assembly polls, but all MLAs except Iman, joined the RJD a couple of years later.
When Tejaswi can dream of becoming the chief minister, then why can't the youth of Seemanchal become a leader, he asked.
"We made the move so that we do not face accusations of helping the BJP. A lack of proper response on RJD's part will make it clear who is actually helping the BJP. The AIMIM had contested 20 seats in the last assembly polls, winning five of these," he said.
The Seeemanchal region, comprising four districts of Purnia, Araria, Kishnaganj and Katihar, has a high concentration of Muslims.
Later in the day, Owaisi is expected to address public meetings in Araria district.