During the oath-taking ceremony for the 18th Lok sabha tenure in the parliament, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi sparked controversy by chanting the slogan “Jai Palestine”.
Owaisi, who won from the Hyderabad constituency took his oath in Urdu and ended with the slogans – ‘Jai Bheem, Jai Telangana, Jai Palestine’.
The sudden inclusion of ‘Jai Palestine’ immediately raised eyebrows and as a condemnation, the BJP MP who followed after Owaisi, Radha Mohan Singh announced that the controversial line would be omitted from the official records.
Despite, assurances from Singh, the BJP MPs continued to protest for a brief period.
Union Minister G Kishan Reddy criticized Owaisi, he said, “This is against the rules of the House. He does not say ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ while living in India… People should understand that he does unconstitutional work while living in the country,”.
In a response to an array of criticisms, Owaisi replied defending his choice of words, and questioning the basis of the objections raised by BJP members.
“Other members are also saying different things… I said ‘Jai Bheem, Jai Telangana, Jai Palestine’. How is it wrong? Tell me the provision of the Constitution [that I violated]. You should also listen to what others say. I said what I had to. Read what Mahatma Gandhi had said about Palestine,” Owaisi said.
In the recent years of elections, it has been seen that Owaisi has emerged as a powerful voice of Muslims in the country. This Lok Sabha election defeating his BJP rival Madhavi Latha with a big margin of over 3.38 Lakh votes, shows that Owaisi has an Iron grip over the Hyderabad seat.
Unfazed by criticism that he is the “B team of BJP”, Owaisi has been making efforts to expand the party’s footprint across the country albeit with limited success.
