Owaisi targets Cong over Ashok Chavan's exit: 'Which is real B team of BJP?

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday said Congress leader Ashok Chavan joining the BJP sheds light on the "real team of RSS and the B team of BJP".

Addressing a public meeting in Akola city of Maharashtra, the Hyderabad MP also referred to the speculation over Congress veteran Kamal Nath jumping ship to join the BJP.

He said Muslims in India are duty-bound to protect mosques and they should think that the Babri masjid "still exists".

Targeting the RSS, Owaisi said Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was not "anti-Muslim" but the Sangh tries to portray him as "anti-Islam".

"Ashok Chavan quit Congress to join BJP. I heard Kamal Nath may follow suit. AIMIM was once called the B team of BJP. Now tell me, which is the real team of the RSS? Which is the real team of the BJP?" he asked.

We should recognise the snakes in our society who are threatening us in the name of secularism, he added.

He also took potshots at NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

"I have heard that he (Ajit Pawar) is fielding his wife against his sister (Supriya Sule). What's happening in the politics of Maharashtra?" Owaisi asked.

He said it is the duty of Muslims to protect masjids, and we will never forget this duty.

"Muslims should never forget December 6, 1992. They should keep in mind that Babri Masjid still exists and will remain so, otherwise another Babri (incident) will happen. Muslims should remember Babri like Jews remember the Holocaust," he added.

Owaisi claimed the representation of Muslim members in the Lok Sabha should go up in the 2024 elections and set AIMIM a target of winning 4 seats from Maharashtra, which sends 48 MPs to the Lok Sabha.

In the 2019 general elections, AIMIM won the Aurangabad (later renamed as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) Lok Sabha constituency from Maharashtra.