Asaduddin Owaisi on Mamata Banerjee’s loss

Hyderabad: All India Majlis E Ittehad Ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday, May 5, attributed Mamata Banerjee’s electoral setback in West Bengal to strong anti-incumbency and corruption, along with the impact of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, while also alleging continued injustice towards Muslims in the state.

Just before the elections, over 90 lakh electors in the state found their names deleted from the voters’ lists months after the Election Commission took up a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter rolls, aimed at cleaning its records of dead and duplicate voters.

The AIMIM chief was speaking after his party contested 11 seats in the state but failed to secure a win. He thanked voters who supported AIMIM candidates, noting that the party performed relatively better in pockets such as Kandi and sees future scope in districts like Malda and Murshidabad.

Criticism of ‘secular parties’

Asaduddin Owaisi also criticised opposition parties, saying those projecting themselves as secular have failed to effectively counter the BJP.

Referring to political trends in other states, he alleged that attempts to adopt “soft Hindutva” have weakened such parties’ credibility and strategy.

‘Muslims remain marginalised’

Owaisi alleged that despite years of Mamata Banerjee being in power, the socio-economic condition of Muslims in West Bengal has not improved significantly.

“Government data itself shows Muslims are among the most marginalised… especially women continue to live in difficult conditions,” he said, questioning the perception of the state government as strongly secular.

Call for independent political leadership

Asaduddin Owaisi also urged Muslims to build independent political leadership instead of relying solely on established parties.

“Votes are getting wasted on parties that call themselves secular but cannot stop the BJP,” he said, adding that while the electoral verdict must be respected, communities need to reassess their political choices going forward.