Owaisi Asking People To Sell Votes In Elections: Congress

Former minister and senior Telangana Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir today demanded that the State Election Commission take suo moto action against MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi for his statement asking people to seek money from the Congress to vote for it in the municipal elections.

Shabbir Ali said that Owaisi was basically telling the voters to seek money for votes in the municipal elections.

"Being the head of a political party, Asaduddin Owaisi should advise people against taking money from anyone to cast their votes in their favour. Instead, Owaisi is advising people to become corrupt and sell their votes for money," he said, and urged the State Election Commission to take a notice of Owaisi's statement.

Replying to Owaisi's statement which was published by a national news agency on Twitter, Shabbir Ali replied on the same platform, "@Asadowaisi Everyone in Telangana knows its TRS & MIM who pay money to buy votes. Your friend CM KCR also shop for opposition MLAs. People also know your price is more than Rs. 2,000. That's why your assets have increased from Rs. 39.02 Lac in 2004 to Rs. 13 Cr in 2019 (as per ECI Affidavit). (sic)"

Shabbir Ali said that the culture of buying votes was started by the TRS and the MIM, and was still being enthusiastically being practised by them.

"Neither of the parties has any respect for the voters, and both fix a price for each vote. Everyone in Telangana knows how the TRS and the MIM lure voters to get their votes and then forget about them after winning the elections. They also openly misuse the official machinery - there were allegations of cash being transported by TRS leaders in police vehicles in the Huzurnagar by-elections. The Congress never indulged in such practices as it believes in free and fair elections," he said.

The Congress leader also lambasted Owaisi for talking about the Constitution these days, when he had tacitly supported Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao when the latter had repeatedly insulted the Constitution and violated democratic norms by engineering the defections of more than 50 MLAs, MLCs, MPs and other elected representatives.

"Why was Asaduddin Owaisi silent when Talasani Srinivas Yadav, who was elected on a TDP ticket, inducted into KCR's cabinet after he faked his resignation as an MLA? He also did not raise his voice when none of the disqualification petitions filed against MLAs and MLCs who defected to the TRS was even heard. Does Owaisi justify the defection of 12 MLAs, who were elected on Congress tickets, to the TRS only to deprive the Congress of the status of main opposition party in the Assembly?" he asked.

Shabbir Ali said that before levelling baseless allegations against the Congress, Asaduddin Owaisi should seriously introspect. He also said that before accusing the Congress leaders of possessing huge wealth, Owaisi must also clarify whether that wealth was ill-gotten.

"Before accusing others of accumulating wealth, Owaisi must clarify how his wealth multiplied manifold from Rs. 39 lakh in 2004 to Rs. 13 crore in 2019. While the voters of Hyderabad remained poor and backward, Owaisi turned a multi-millionaire in 15 years. Can he explain how he accumulated so much wealth?" he asked, adding that the people should visit the website of the Election Commission of India to check the assets disclosed by the MIM president in his election affidavits.

The former minister also said that the Congress was fighting the municipal elections on the issue of the failure of the TRS government in fulfilling its electoral promises and the lack of development in the urban local bodies in Telangana. The TRS, the MIM and the BJP had already polluted the electoral processes, and they should restrain from encouraging corruption in the municipal elections too now, he said.