There’s a backstory to why C-team jab by Congress ‘hurt’ Owaisis so much

There have been claims that AIMIM has been polarising voters to keep its vote bank intact and that it contests elections in other States to help BJP by splitting Opposition votes.
File photo of Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi.
File photo of Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi.

HYDERABAD: Since the very first election meeting on October 30 in Hakimpet, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has made it a point to counter allegations that his party was an indirect supporter of the BJP. There have been claims that AIMIM has been polarising voters to keep its vote bank intact and that it contests elections in other States to help BJP by splitting Opposition votes. The gusto with which the Owaisi brothers counter these claims has roots in the past.

A similar allegation started doing rounds in 1992, after the demolition of the Babri Masjid. The story was that the then MIM chief Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi was in cohorts with the Congress government. He allegedly knew about the plans to demolish the structure but stayed silent and did nothing. The rumours then became reports in the media, some of which were taken to court by Sultan Owaisi for defamation. These ‘stories and rumours’ made a massive dent on the party’s electoral fortunes.   

At that time, Sultan Owaisi was also the president of the Babri Masjid Action Committee. The stories had started to take a toll on the party. It created a rift between five-time Chandrayangutta MLA late Amanullah Khan and Sultan Owaisi. At a political rally, Khan even publicly criticised the late AIMIM chief for maintaining silence on the issue. Reports say that party loyalists had to snatch the microphone away from him, leading to a clash. Following that, Khan was kicked out of party.

In 1993, Khan went on to form the Majilis Bachao Tehreek (MBT). Meanwhile the sentiment continued to turn against Sultan Owaisi, who was lovingly called as Salar-e-Millat (or as commander of the community). The situation changed so drastically that during the last week of Ramzan in 1993, while addressing a jalsa at Mecca Masjid, Owaisi took the Quran in his hands and swore that he had never done anything wrong, or taken a single pie on the Babri Masjid matter. Till date, Sultan’s youngest son Akbaruddin Owaisi keeps recalling this episode at public rallies.

Whether it changed the public’s perception is not well known, but the allegations and the subsequent split in the party cost MIM electorally. In the 1994 Andhra Assembly elections, AIMIM registered its worst results till date. Out of the 20 seats they had contested, they retained only one — Charminar, which was represented by present party chief Asaduddin Owaisi. In contrast, MBT registered its best results. Amanullah Khan retained Chandrayangutta seat and his party also won the Yakutpura seat. AIMIM has made a significant comeback since then. It has reclaimed Old City as its bastion. But, that ‘rumour’ is an episode that Owaisi brothers will not want to see repeated.

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