- Asaduddin Owaisi denied AIMIM is BJP's "B-team" or a "vote-cutter" in elections
- Speaking to NDTV, he said Opposition must "self-introspect" for BJP's repeated electoral victories
- "If an alliance fights 450-500 seats and still loses thrice, then why are you blaming others?" he said
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi has rubbished the Opposition's charge that his party is Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) "B-team" and said they need to "self-introspect".
Speaking to NDTV's CEO and Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal in an edition of 'Walk The Talk', two days after Bihar went to polls in the first phase of assembly elections, Owaisi also rejected the Opposition's claim that he is a "vote-cutter".
The Hyderabad MP said that he is "not responsible" for the "victory chariot" of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which came to power at the Centre for the third consecutive term last year.
"They don't get tired of calling me a vote-cutter and B-team. But no one says that Narendra Modi became the prime minister thrice. Whose responsibility is it? If a party or alliance fights 450-500 seats and still loses thrice, then why are you blaming others? They need to self-introspect," he said.
Owaisi also dared the Opposition parties that accused him of "spoiling the game" to have a debate with him on NDTV.
"Those who accuse us will run away in five minutes. We have the data," he charged.
Asked if the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led (RJD) Opposition, the Mahagathbandhan, would be able to dethrone the ruling BJP-led NDA in these Bihar assembly elections, he said it would be a "big challenge". Slamming the RJD, he said it has not formed a government on its own since 2004.
He also said that the AIMIM had written letters to all the parties of the opposition INDIA bloc, stating that it was willing to contest the polls as an ally, but received no response.
Owaisi's AIMIM contested 19 seats in the last assembly polls and won five seats. Four of its MLAs, however, later joined the RJD.
The polling in Bihar for the second phase will be held on November 11, and the votes will be counted on November 14.
While the NDA comprises the BJP, Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United), Union Minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha, and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha, the Opposition alliance has Tejashwi Yadav's RJD, Congress, and Left parties as the main constituents.
