‘Now that an Abdul has won…’: For Owaisi, Michigan race has Uttar Pradesh parallel

In a recent statement, Asaduddin Owaisi, the president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP, likened the historic victory of Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in the US midterms to a parallel situation in Uttar Pradesh. El-Sayed made history by becoming the first Muslim elected to the United States Senate after winning in Michigan.

Owaisi remarked, “An Abdul has won in Michigan; now the Abdul from Uttar Pradesh will have to strengthen his political identity. The Sanghis have tried very hard to turn ‘Abdul’ into a taunt. The time has come for us to show that Abdul does not bow to anyone but Allah. No more will we lay out the prayer mat.” In recent speeches in Uttar Pradesh, Owaisi has urged Muslims to stop relying on the Nehru-Gandhis or Yadavs and to build leaders within their community.

He has criticized those who view Muslims as merely candidates to roll out carpets for influential political families.

Owaisi's comments have been met with criticism from the Telangana Congress, who accused him of exporting a leadership formula he never implemented in Hyderabad or Telangana. Over the past few months, Owaisi has ramped up his campaign in Uttar Pradesh, addressing crowds in strongholds of the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, and intensifying his criticism of SP president Akhilesh Yadav and the party's Muslim legislators.

Despite this, he has left the door open for an alliance with the SP, provided they are given "hissedari (political partnership)" rather than being relegated to a subordinate role.