All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Union Home Minister Amit Shah while addressing back-to-back rallies in poll-bound Bihar, accusing them of spreading false narratives on infiltration and discriminating against Muslims.
Aiming the BJP’s repeated references to “infiltrators,” Owaisi questioned the Centre’s claims and accused Shah of using the issue to dog-whistle against the Muslim community.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi claims to take everyone along and work for the progress of all. But his party fails to give election tickets to even a single Muslim,” Owaisi said.
In the Bihar assembly elections, the BJP has not fielded a single Muslim candidate out of the 101 seats it is contesting.
Ignored by the INDIA bloc, Owaisi’s AIMIM is contesting 32 out of the 243 assembly seats in Bihar, where elections are scheduled to be held in two phases on November 6 and 11. The results will be declared on November 14.
‘Infiltrators sitting in Delhi’
Questioning Amit Shah’s repeated reference to “infiltrators” in his campaign speeches, Owaisi said, “There is no infiltration in Bihar. If there is, then what is Amit Shah doing? Amit Shah keeps saying again and again that he'll remove the infiltrators. Where is this infiltration?”
Taking a swipe at the Modi government’s foreign policy, Owaisi invoked the case of now-exiled, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s stay in India. “Again and again Amit Shah and Modi, we are telling you the infiltrators are sitting in Delhi. The people of Bangladesh have thrown them out. Modi said, ‘Come, my sister,’” Owaisi said.
Owaisi has previously voiced his disapproval of Hasina’s stay in India following her ouster from power in August 2024. In an interview with The Indian Express, he had questioned the government’s decision, saying, “Why are we keeping that deposed leader (Sheikh Hasina) in the country? Send her back. She is also a Bangladeshi, isn’t it?”
Owaisi further said that if infiltration still exists, it raises serious questions about the performance of the agencies under the Home Ministry. “You are the Home Minister. The BSF is under you. The border police force is under you. Intelligence is under you. Nitish Kumar’s government has been in Bihar for 20 years,” he said.
He also criticised the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision in Bihar ahead of polls, saying, “The Election Commission had weeded out 6.5 million names. Then they removed another 300,000 names. How many infiltrators were found?”
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INDIA bloc and Muslim leadership
Turning his attack toward the opposition alliance, Owaisi lashed out at the INDIA bloc for excluding his party and questioned its decision to project RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as the chief ministerial candidate. He also criticised the bloc’s promise of the deputy CM post to Mukesh Sahni of the Vikassheel Insan Party.
“Why cannot a Muslim, who represents 17 per cent of the state’s population, become the chief minister? After all, they seem to have no problem with promising the deputy CM’s post to a person who represents only three per cent of the population,” Owaisi said.
He accused parties like the Congress, RJD, and Samajwadi Party of exploiting Muslim voters without offering genuine representation.
“Parties like Congress, RJD, and Samajwadi Party seek votes of Muslims, cashing in on the minority community’s fear of the BJP. These parties have not been able to stop the BJP but are still trying to get the votes of Muslims under the same pretext,” he said.
‘We tore Waqf law’
Addressing another public meeting in Pothia, Owaisi touched upon issues related to Muslim personal laws. “They brought the Waqf law, and we tore it in front of them, calling it a black law.
We must fight for what is right because our elders have taught us to do so. We have been taught not to be afraid,” he said, urging voters to support AIMIM candidates.
Owaisi’s fiery remarks come amid an increasingly polarised campaign in Bihar, where national security, religious identity, and development have become central themes in the run-up to the November elections.
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