There is no Muslim vote bank: Owaisi

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi has claimed that Muslims have always been deceived when it comes to them being identified as a significant vote bank.

Owaisi's remark came a day after Union Minorities Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the BJP government needs to "do a lot more to gain the confidence of Muslims, whose minds have been poisoned over the last 70 years."

"It is a fact that there has never been a Muslim vote bank. Muslims have always been deceived by saying you have a vote bank," Owaisi told ANI.

The AIMIM President further lashed out at the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party for their approach towards the Muslim community.

"Both parties (BJP and Congress) are now hankering for the Hindu vote bank. In the last Karnataka polls, the BJP did not give single a Muslim ticket to contest for assembly elections. There's no Muslim MP in Lok Sabha from the BJP. This clearly shows they are not interested in real political empowerment and development of the Muslim community. The same is with the Congress party," he added.

Naqvi had said in an interview to a leading daily that although the BJP has done a lot, more needs to be done to gain the trust of Muslims.

"A lot has changed in the last four years; there is a palpable change in the way Muslims feel about the BJP, there is an atmosphere of confidence. We have done a lot of work. But there has been a misinformation campaign for 70 years; minds have been poisoned for that long. This is not about elections; it's about generating confidence in people," The Indian Express quoted Naqvi, as saying.