Hyderabad : Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency Congress in-charge and former DCC president Mohammed Waliullah Sameer on Thursday accused AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi of selling a political formula in Uttar Pradesh that he had never implemented in his own home ground of Hyderabad and Telangana.
Reacting to Owaisi’s recent speeches asking Muslims in Uttar Pradesh to stop depending on Nehru-Gandhi or Yadav leadership and build leaders from within the community, Sameer said the Hyderabad MP must first answer a simple question: how many independent Muslim leaders had AIMIM actually created outside its traditional pockets during decades of political dominance in Telangana?
“Owaisi is telling Muslims in Uttar Pradesh that Abdul should no longer spread the carpet for others and should himself become a leader. Fine. But before giving this advice in Azamgarh or Rampur, he should tell us what happened to Abdul in Telangana. Why was he never allowed to move beyond a few selected constituencies?” Sameer asked. He said the debate should not be reduced to whether Muslims needed greater political representation, because there was no disagreement on that issue.
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“Muslims certainly need more representation. They need more MLAs, MPs, ministers, mayors, councillors and party office-bearers. But the real question is whether Owaisi has expanded that representation or simply monopolised it in a limited geography,” he said. Sameer pointed out that AIMIM contested only nine of the 119 Assembly constituencies in Telangana in the 2023 elections.
“If Owaisi genuinely believes that Muslim youth are being denied platforms by larger parties, why did AIMIM itself leave 110 Assembly constituencies untouched? Were there no capable Muslim lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs, social workers, women or educated youngsters in those constituencies?” he asked. He said the contradiction became sharper because AIMIM had supported the then BRS in most constituencies where it did not field candidates.
“In Uttar Pradesh, Owaisi says Muslims should stop depending on others. In Telangana, he voluntarily handed over political space to another party. That is not independent leadership. That is selective politics,” Sameer said. He accused the AIMIM chief of using the language of Muslim empowerment mainly when expanding into states where the party sought a new electoral base.
“This slogan becomes loud in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra or West Bengal. But in Telangana, where AIMIM has had the strongest organisation and the longest opportunity, there has been no serious attempt to create a statewide generation of Muslim leadership,” he said. Sameer said Hyderabad should have become the strongest advertisement for Owaisi’s political model if his claims were genuine.
“For decades, AIMIM has had elected representatives, municipal influence and a permanent parliamentary presence from Hyderabad. If that model had truly transformed Muslim political power, Hyderabad should today be producing dozens of leaders with statewide and national stature from ordinary families,” he said.
“Instead, political influence has remained concentrated, while most ordinary Muslims continue to struggle with the same questions of education, employment, housing, health, civic infrastructure and access to economic opportunity,” he added. Sameer said Owaisi’s “Abdul and the carpet” metaphor was also problematic because it reduced Muslim voters to passive followers.
“Muslim voters are not people who have spent decades spreading carpets for politicians. They have repeatedly made strategic choices based on the political situation before them. Sometimes they backed Congress, sometimes regional parties, sometimes independents and sometimes AIMIM. They do not need anyone to certify their political intelligence,” he said. He said the larger problem with Owaisi’s formulation was that it confused Muslim leadership with Muslim isolation.
“A Muslim leader should certainly emerge from the community, but why should his political appeal end at the community? The real achievement is when a Muslim leader can win the trust of Muslims, Hindus, Dalits, OBCs, Christians, Sikhs and others. That is leadership. Creating a separate political enclosure and calling it empowerment is something else,” he said. Sameer said Owaisi’s attack on Congress also ignored the party’s long record of elevating Muslims to some of the highest constitutional, political and administrative positions in the country.
