No Modi wave in country this time: Asaduddin Owaisi

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s president Asaduddin Owaisi contesting from Hyderabad is aiming to score a fourth successive win. DH’s JBS Umanadh spoke to him while he was on door-to-door campaign in Chandrayangutta area of the old city on Sunday. Asaduddin enjoys meeting people and speaking to them directly at their doorsteps.

Walking through the narrow streets of his brother Akabaruddin Owaisi’s assembly segment Chandrayangutta, Asaduddin spoke about varying issues from Modi to Chandrababu Naidu. Here are the excerpts from the interview:

We are reaching the end of campaign for first phase of elections. How do you perceive the winning chances of BJP at the centre?

The result is clear. The BJP is losing the elections. In fact, Narendra Modi will be former prime minister of the country very soon. The nation is also going to have a new prime minister who is not from either BJP or the Congress. Modi’s charisma is fading. When he came here for 2014 campaign, there was huge crowd that was spontaneous. Recently when he came, BJP struggled to mobilize crowds. BJP lost miserably in the recent Assembly elections in Telangana. There is no Modi wave this time in the country.

If there is no Modi wave this time, why do you always target Modi in your speeches?

I don’t prepare my speeches ahead of time. It is a political thought process. I target him because he is our PM and he wants to return to that post again. Nation wants to know what he has done or failed to do in these five years. We are in opposition; it is our responsibility to expose his weakness so that voters know whom to vote or not to vote.

You said that Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) is the most suitable person to be the prime minister of country. Why?

KCR has a bigger heart than Modi and is bigger Hindu than Modi. There is "Zameen and Aasman Ka farq" when it comes to Modi’s Hindutva ideology and KCR’s. Modi’s Hindutva destroys India’s secular fabric, its composite culture and Ganga-jamuna tehzeeb. I urge every voter in Telangana to vote for TRS so that we have a bigger stake at the centre after elections.

You have declared your support to YS Jaganmohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh. What are his winning chances there?

Jaganmohan Reddy is becoming Andhra CM. There is no doubt about it. Chandrababu Naidu lost credibility because of frequent shifts. He was with NDA when the Gujarat program took place. Naidu who has kept the Muslims away from important party and government posts suddenly declared that if elected he will make a Muslim as a deputy chief minister. Nobody believes him anymore. Naidu is losing the elections.

Special category status to Andhra has been a major demand on which the elections in AP are fought. What is your party’s stand on it?

The Majlis party stands by our support for special category status to Andhra Pradesh. It is unfortunate that Naidu who has been in alliance with the NDA for four years failed to secure that status for the state. If voted to power YS Jaganmohan Reddy will achieve that for the people.

Why do you prefer campaigning door-to-door by walking or travelling on your bike?

We prefer to be among the people of the constituency round the clock. Not just when there are elections. This way I get to meet people and listen to them... I don’t believe in gathering huge crowds or travel in big convoys.

Why have you neither preferred to be a part of any central government nor tried to expand party base to other states?

Mullah Ki Doud Masjid Tak hai (The run of the Mullah is up to the Mosque). The Majlis is not made for that kind of work. You don’t have to be a part of centre to work for the people. We fight with the party in power and get the work done. However, we are contesting in three other places this time and supporting KCR in Telangana and Jagan in Andhra Pradesh.