Owaisi's poll promise: Will get Muslims 21 per cent of BMC budget

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday addressed his first rally for party's campaign for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. Owaisi addressed a crowd of 5,000 people at the party's stronghold of Madanpura in south Mumbai.

Owaisi also called Modi a big mouth and said his Rs 6,000 to pregnant woman scheme is part of Food Security Act which has been in existence for years.

Hitting out at the BMC's poor performance, Owaisi highlighted the sad state of Urdu schools. Praising warrior king Shivaji, Owaisi hit out at the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance that rules BMC.

"Urdu schools don't have teachers at all and even basic infrastructure is lacking. The BMC has a budget of Rs 37,000 crore but there is no development. Had they used this budget properly, the city would have many more amenities. All Urdu schools are shutting down," Owaisi said.

"The Behram Baugh maternity hospital is shut and so are many dispensaries in Muslim localities. The Muslims aren't getting their due from the BMC and they are being ignored. I promise that the AIMIM will get funds for Muslims if it comes to power in the BMC. Muslims comprise 21 per cent of the population so at least Rs 7,770 crore must be spent on them," Owaisi added.

Owaisi said that his party wasn't against the Rs 3,600 crore Shivaji memorial. "We are not against the memorial. Many Muslims were part of Shivaji's army and administration. Making memorials is fine but what about stopping troublesome floods in the city during the monsoon. Who will stop that? Shiv Sena-BJP is creating enmity between Hindus and Muslims. We are not against any religion but we will fight for what is ours. Shivaji Maharaj was pro-poor but this government wants to dilute the atrocity act," Owaisi said.

The party won 40 seats in the recently concluded Municipal Council polls boosting its morale. MIM leaders said they were sure of winning at least 20 seats in the BMC. The AIMIM's charge is being led by firebrand legislator Waris Pathan.

"People have lost faith in parties like BJP, SP and Congress, who have been involved with nothing but scams in the city. People require facilities and despite having no corporators in the civic body, we have worked on potholes, fought to increase funds allocated for repair of dilapidated buildings and most importantly for more cemeteries in the city," Pathan said.

Pathan pointed out that their focus is to start with support from Muslim and Dalit dominated areas. According to MIM leaders, the party could bag seats in areas like Golibar, Bharat Nagar, Jogeshwari, Juhu Galli in Andheri, Malad, Behrampada and Naupada.

Pathan said that several leaders like Akhlaq Ansari from the Congress, Waseem Qureshi from the BJP and Furqan Sayed from an NGO named Sahas Foundation, had come on board.

The community can prove to be a deciding factor in almost 30 seats in the 227-strong BMC. At the moment there are 23 Muslim corporators in the BMC, down from 27 in 2007. Of the 23, 11 are from Congress, two from NCP, six from SP and four are independent.