All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday questioned the DMK’s claim of being secular, asking why it had joined hands with the Congress that supported the “communal” Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.
The Hyderabad MP said the DMK lacked political courtesy because it had revoked an invitation extended to him for an event of the party’s minority wing in January.
Speaking at an event, in which the manifesto of its ally, the AMMK, was released, Mr. Owaisi said his party joined hands with the AMMK, led by T.T.V. Dhinakaran, because he treated Muslims with respect. He asked why the DMK, which had allied with the BJP in the past, was calling it “communal” now.
The Shiv Sena was happy with the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the Congress had supported the party in Maharashtra, he said. “Is this your secularism? You are teaching us secularism,” he asked in remarks aimed at the DMK leadership.
Releasing the AMMK manifesto, Mr. Dhinakaran said other parties were announcing impractical schemes, but the AMMK wanted to give a job to one member of every family. He urged the electorate not to fall prey to money distributed by political parties.
The AMMK said it would clear the dues to sugarcane farmers from private and cooperative mills and promote organic pesticides and organic farming.
An ‘Amma Gram Bank’ to encourage young entrepreneurs, subsidies to those aged below 40 for buying two-wheelers and protecting the interests of all communities availing themselves of the 69% communal reservation were among the other promises.
The party also vowed to revive the bicameral legislature in Tamil Nadu.
