Published 15:54 IST, January 24th 2020
Owaisi takes a dig on BJP's Kailash Vijayavargiya Poha statement, makes 'Halwa reference'
Entering into the "poha" debate, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday said that labourers should only eat "Halwa"
Advertisement
Entering into the "poha" debate, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday said that labourers should only eat "Halwa". He added that if the labourers will eat Halwa only then they will be called "Indian, Bharat ka Shehri" otherwise they will be called "Bangladeshi."
His remark comes as a dig on BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya who while addressing a seminar in Indore on Friday said that labourers who recently worked at his house can be Bangladeshis as they only ate poha. Owaisi has been actively opposing the amended citizenship law calling it 'discriminatory' as it seeks to grant citizenship to Jains, Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Christians and Buddhists.
BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya says some of the labourers carrying out construction work at his house recently were likely to be Bangladeshis as they had "strange" eating habits and were consuming only 'poha' (flattened rice)
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 23, 2020
Owaisi's Halwa remark
Earlier on January 22, after the Halwa ceremony of the Finance Ministry ahead of the Budget Session of the Parliament, Owaisi had targeted the BJP for its "name changing spree". He had said that the word 'Halwa' is an "Arabic" word. He asked that "Will you people start speaking in Arabic now and change the name of 'Halwa' ?" The Hyderabad MP added that he is not 'halwa' and called himself "red chilli".
Addressing a public rally in Karimnagar ahead of Municipal corporation elections, Owaisi had said: "You know how the process of making the budget starts? By making 'Halwa'. Now I want to ask the BJP people, dear, what is the origin of this work? It's an Arabic word. It is neither a Hindi word nor an Urdu word. So will you start people talking in Arabic now? Will you change its name too?"
15:53 IST, January 24th 2020