Asaduddin Owaisi: slams Digvijaya Singh for calling AAP an RSS product.

Owaisi said that his party, which won two Assembly seats in Maharashtra was also labelled as being in cahoots with the BJP. 

NEW DELHI: 
Hyderabad MP and leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Asaduddin Owaisi has slammed senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's statement terming Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal as an RSS product, calling it reflective of a "feudal" mindset. 

"Just because the voter has rejected you does not mean you demean their choices. This is a typical feudal mind set, where if you don't vote for their choice you are termed an RSS agent," he said."There is an old hindi saying naach na jaaney aangan tedha (a bad workman blames his tools)," he added. Speaking to ET on the Delhi polls and its implications on the national scene, Owaisi said that his party, which won two Assembly seats in Maharashtra in its maiden outing there was also labelled as being in cahoots with the BJP because their presence led to the splitting of the non-BJP vote. 

"Congress should understand that other options are available now," he said. He added that Kejriwal's victory, and his success in appropriating the Congress' vote bank is a signal to other parties who count on anti-BJP or even minority votes that it is time to "get out of your comfort zone." 

"The Samajwadi Party (SP) for example, who set themselves up like some 'choudharies' of minority votes have leaders like Azam Khan who are offering to build a temple in the name of Mulayam Singh Yadav. These people should get out of their comfort zones of minority politics revolving around iftaar parties, chadar for Ajmer Dargah or phoolwalon ki sair etc. When you talk of the aspirational Indian voter, why separate the Muslims? Why only talk of physical safety for them and no development?" he added. "The Left kept saying that they were secular, but the Sachar committee reports revealed showed the low levels of development of the community in West Bengal. The Muslims then threw in their lot with Mamta Banerjee," he added. 

Owaisi, who has written to the Lok Sabha Speaker for permission to adopt a village in Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana confirmed that his party, while having avoided the Delhi polls, would be looking at other state elections to expand. "The Delhi polls demonstrated that people had more trust in a new party than either the BJP or the Congress," he said.