Murshidabad (West Bengal) [India], April 13 : AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owais, on Monday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Trinamool Congress supremeo (TMC) and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee are the "two sides of the same coin".
The allegations were made while addressing a public meeting in the Raghunathganj Assembly constituency of Murshidabad for the upcoming West Bengal polls.
"... When a video surfaced, I declared that the Majlis would not tolerate the compromising of the interests of Bengal's Muslims... Tell me, Mamata Banerjee and the TMC: did you not side with the BJP?... PM Modi and Mamata are two sides of the same coin. PM Modi and Mamata are like brother and sister. Mamata had claimed that she would not implement the Waqf Act in Bengal, but she lied merely to secure your votes..."
This comes after a "sting video" posted on X by the TMC, in which the AJUP chief Humayun Kabir purportedly said that he had struck a deal of "Rs 1,000 crore". AIMIM said that it raised concerns regarding the "integrity of Muslims".
Asaduddin Owaisi alleged discrimination against Muslims in West Bengal, claiming that the community has faced "grave injustice".
"Grave injustice has been inflicted upon the Muslim minority of Bengal. People tell you to stand by secularism... Is it not true that when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister of this country--during the 1960s--approximately 40,000 Muslims from this very Bengal were served notices or were deported from here?....
He promised the implementation of a minimum wage policy for women engaged in bidi rolling.
"... A minimum wage policy will be implemented for our mothers and sisters who earn their livelihood by rolling bidis... Last year, the Calcutta High Court cancelled 5,00,000 OBC certificates. Of those, 3,50,000 certificates belonged to members of the Muslim community... Whatever development takes place here in West Bengal is concentrated solely in the direction of Kolkata... For Murshidabad's justice, Owaisi will hold a 'chakka jam' in Kolkata."
Earlier, Owaisi's AIMIM announced its decision to withdraw its alliance with the party headed by Kabir.
The polling for the 294-member assembly in West Bengal will take place in two phases on April 23 and April 29, while counting of votes is scheduled for May 4.