No meeting between Modi, Owaisi: BJP

BJP today asserted that AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who is fielding candidates in some of the assembly constituencies in the upcoming Bihar polls, has not met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said a defamation case will be slapped against the newspaper which claimed such a meeting had taken place.
Terming the media report as an "absolute fabrication and pernicious lie", party spokesperson M J Akbar told reporters here that it was an example of "yellow journalism at its worst".
He said BJP will file a defamation case against the newspaper seeking heavy damages. The story was part of a conspiracy to further a political agenda, he alleged.

Owaisi's party has decided to field candidates in the Seemanchal region of Bihar where Muslims are in large numbers.
Some leaders of the grand alliance of JD(U)-RJD-Congress have alleged that Owaisi was doing it to help BJP by seeking to divide Muslim votes in next month's polls to the 243-member Bihar Assembly.
Taking a swipe at Congress, Akbar said the survey by American think tank PEW showed that Modi was more popular than Rahul Gandhi. He said Modi's popularity was the "biggest strength" for the BJP. The survey, which had 2,452 respondents, was carried between April and May this year.

"It (survey) shows that even the supporters and voters of the Congress are running away from the dynasty. And they are connecting with the developmental agenda of Modi. You will find an evidence of this in Bihar elections," he said.
Meanwhile, asked if the Centre will declassify filed related to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as the West Bengal government did today, he parried the query saying the Prime Minister will take a final call on the basis of the national interest.