‘Chhota recharge’: Owaisi alleges Arvind Kejriwal silent on critical issues

Ahead of the Delhi civic polls, Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday hit out at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over various issues prevailing in the national capital, including water supply, garbage management and healthcare.

In his speech at Shaheen Bagh in the national capital, the AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) leader called Kejriwal “chota recharge (small recharge package)”. “You guys voted for the party of ‘Chota recharge’ in the assembly and this ward.

And you know how much the Delhi Chief Minister lies,” he can be heard saying in a video of the public meeting shared by his party on social media. Owaisi also accused Kejriwal of remaining silent on the Bilkis Bano case, the Uniform Civil Code among other issues. Bilkis Bano was pregnant when she was raped during the 2002 Gujarat riots and the release of the convicts in the case had recently triggered huge outrage.

“I think if there is a competition about who makes bigger false claims – (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi or Kejriwal – they are equals. It was this Delhi CM who made no attempts to stop riots (in the city in 2020). He just sat near Mahatma Gandhi’s statue to protest,” Owaisi claimed, stepping up the attack on Kejriwal. “He even talks about putting Lakshmi-Ganesh photos on notes. Now the younger brother is making an appeal to the elder brother, and the elder brother is happy that the younger one is following in his footsteps,” the Hyderabad MP further said, without naming Arvind Kejriwal and PM Modi.

Arvind Kejriwal had come under fire for his ‘request’ to the Prime Minister for putting the photos of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesh on currency notes. “India is a country where all religions are respected. Even if a person is an agnostic, he too is respected.”

“When the stir at Shaheen Bagh (against Citizenship Amendment Act) was gaining wide attention, he made remarks such as – ‘I would have finished the protests in half hour if it was in my control’,” Owaisi said further in scathing comment, calling the Delhi CM a “coward”. Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh had emerged as the epicenter of protests against the citizenship law, which was called anti-minority by critics. It had gained widespread attention worldwide before it was wrapped up in the midst of the pandemic.

“When the first Covid wave was on, the Delhi Chief Minister was among those who blamed the Tablighi Jamaat for the surge in case. A special bulletin used to come highlighting the Jamaat cases separately,” the AIMIM chief underlined, referring to the controversy that was stirred in 2020.

His comments came as he sought votes for the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) polls, which are due for Sunday.

The BJP is currently governing the MCD and the AAP aims to gain control of the civic body. Votes will be counted on December 7.