MIM’s Asad Owaisi promises 21 percent of BMC budget for Muslims

Kicking off his party’s campaign for the upcoming civic elections, president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, Asaduddin Owaisi, promised to use Rs 7,770 crore of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s annual budget to provide amenities to the Muslim population in the city. Owaisi and other senior leaders of the party, including Aurangabad MLA Imtiaz Jaleel and Byculla MLA Waris Pathan, addressed a crowd of thousands at a rally at the Nagpada junction Sunday.

 

Owaisi attacked the Congress-NCP and BJP-Sena governments for meting out “injustice” to Muslims. The party plans to field candidates for the BMC elections for the first time. “MIM will field candidates mostly in Muslim pockets like Madanpura, Bhendi Bazar, Jogeshwari, Santacruz, Bandra and Govandi. The party can unsettle the SP that has 9 corporators and also damage the prospects of the Congress-NCP combine,” said a source.

 

“Muslims comprise 21% population in the Mumbai metropolitan region. In the Rs 37,000 crore BMC budget, the share of Muslims should be Rs 7,770 crore. Elect at least 20 to 25 members of MIM in the BMC and we will get the fair share for Muslim wards,” Owaisi said.

 

He declared the party’s strongholds to be Byculla, Nagpada and Govandi. “If Muslims are paying taxes to the BMC, it is their constitutional right to get amenities in Muslim areas as well. With your support, we will ensure that enough funds are spent on the needs of Muslims,” he said.

 

 

Owaisi also critisized the BJP’s Rs 3,000-crore initiative of constructing a Shivaji Memorial.

 

“The government wants to construct a memorial for Chhatrapati Shivaji but they have forgotten that Madaari Mehtab fought alongside him and gave his life for Shivaji at Agra. Why is there no mention of him? We’re not against it but the government should first stop waterlogging in the streets every monsoon,” Owaisi said. He added that the BJP was oblivious to the suffering farmers, a community Shivaji looked out for.