By A Mirsab, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai: Apparently alarmed at their weakening popularity in her family bastion of Solapur due to emergence of AIMIM, Congress MLA Parineeti Shinde, the daughter of former Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, has termed the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) as “anti-national” and called for banning it.
“The MIM has fundamentally been against India rather than any section of the population and harboured plans for subversion,” Shinde said in Solapur district on Wednesday and claimed: “MIM has a divisive agenda and the party is working against the country’s interest.”
TCN File Photo of a rally by MIM in Maharashtra during the recently concluded Assembly elections.
She reportedly retracted the statement later.
Shinde’s attack on MIM comes at a time when she won the Solapur City Central seat in the assembly election with a meagre margin of 9000 votes against MIM’s Taufiq Shaikh. He had given her a tight fight and came second.
Reacting to her controversial statement, Shaikh reportedly said, “Such utterances are not correct. She is upset by MIM’s success in Solapur. The Congress has only given empty promises to the Muslims and weaker sections of society so far. We are contemplating reporting this statement to the Governor and urge him to take action against Ms. Shinde.”
Presumably, Shinde made this statement eyeing the Solapur civic polls as she is upset due to the MIM’s spectacular success in grabbing a significant chunk of Muslim and Dalit votes in Solapur posing a serious threat to Shinde family’s stronghold.
Meanwhile, MIM has expressed strong objection to Shinde’s statement and called for an apology. If she didn’t, MIM will file a criminal defamation case against her, MIM national president Asaduddin Owaisi told a TV channel on Thursday.
“Why is she calling for a ban on us now? Nobody spoke of a ban when we supported the Congress at the Centre from 2004 to 2012. It was we who bailed out the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh in 2011 when the main opposition party, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), tabled a no-confidence motion,” Owaisi said.
“Shinde’s statement smacks of Congress’ hypocrisy,” he said and added, “Our decision to contest Maharashtra election and our success in Solapur has thoroughly shaken her. Solapur is not a private property of the Shindes. Any party can contest elections from anywhere in India.”
However, Shinde reportedly clarified her statement as: “My statement was not for a particular party, but for all parties that are disturbing the secular fabric of our country.”
Imran Khan, a sympathizer of MIM, told Twocircles.net, “It is her (Shinde’s) frustration as her family is viewing a future rout in their own bastion (because) MIM is getting support from Muslims as well as Dalits due to its proper balancing (in election) by fielding a Dalit and a Muslim candidate from two seats of Solapur.”
Marking a debut in Maharashtra, the MIM won 2 seats out of 24 it contested. MIM ate up INC – NCP votes in the state and hence it appears that such attacks are coming out against the party, which obtained nearly 1% votes in the election.