Rahul Gandhi won in Wayanad due to 40% Muslim population: Asaduddin Owaisi

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi lost from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh but won from Wayanad only because of Muslims who constitute 40 per cent of the voters in the constituency. He was taking a potshot at the Congress for using Muslims as a vote bank but not doing anything for them. The Congress does not have any strength left and does not work hard, he said, and credited regional parties for their efforts to put up a brave front in front of PM Modi.

The AIMIM president also said that the states where the BJP underperformed were not because of the presence of Congress, but due to regional parties and other religious communities.

"On 15 August 1947, our elders thought that this will be a new India. That India will be of Azad, Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar and of crores of their followers. I am still hopeful of getting our place in the country. We don't want alms, we don't want to survive on your alms," Owaisi said.

Asaduddin Owaisi, AIMIM: The Congress leader himself lost in Amethi & received victory in Wayanad. Isn't the 40% population of Wayanad Muslim? (09.06.2019) https://t.co/PxQJm7wWbz

— ANI (@ANI) June 9, 2019

He also said that the Congress managed to win in Punjab because of Sikh voters. "You don't want to leave Congress and other secular parties. But remember they don't have strength, thinking, they don't work hard...Where did BJP lose? In Punjab. Who's there? Sikhs. Why did BJP lose anywhere else in India? Due to regional parties there and not Congress. The Congress leader himself lost in Amethi and received victory in Wayanad. Isn't the 40 per cent population of Wayanad Muslim?" Owaisi added.

Rahul Gandhi contested from both Amethi and Wayanad in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. He won from Wayanad won by 4,31,063 votes against his nearest rival PP Suneer of Left Democratic Front (LDF), however, lost to Union minister Smriti Irani from the Gandhi's family bastion in Uttar Pradesh. In Kerala, Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) bagged 19 out of the 20 seats.