UP: Asaduddin Owaisi campaigns for PDM candidates, urges people to vote for envelope symbol

VARANASI: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who reached Uttar Pradesh's Mirzapur and then Varanasi on Tuesday for election campaign for PDM candidates, said they appealed to voters to cast their votes on election symbol of the envelope. Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), a Kurmi OBC-centric party led by Krishna Patel, formed the PDM with AIMIM, Pragatisheel Manav Samaj Party and Rashtriya Uday Party. The PDM, signifying picchda (backwards), Dalits and Muslims.

"We are part of PDM in Uttar Pradesh and are appealing for PDM candidates wherever they are to cast their vote on envelop sign," said Owaisi while talking to ANI. When asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's allegation on Congress of making an attempt to reduce the reservation for Dalits, tribals and backwards and give it to Muslims, Owaisi said, "After the first phase, PM has restricted election to Muslims only, PM wants to tell that only Muslim votes and no other community votes.

This is their (BJP) strategy, they want to hide their failures by showing Muslim fear and hatred. They have not provided employment, inflation is skyrocketing, and papers are being leaked in Uttar Pradesh.

Their foreign policy is so incompetent that a country like Nepal marks Indian territory as part of theirs on the currency notes. Now the nation is watching all this and has understood that they want to abolish the Constitution" Owaisi said, "...I just want to appeal people to stop PM Modi from becoming Prime Minister for the third time otherwise there will be rise in unemployment and inflation and Constitution will be abolished." Uttar Pradesh is voting in all seven phases of the Lok Sabha polls, the last phase of which is scheduled for June 1. The Congress is fighting the polls in partnership with the Samajwadi Party in the state and has a seat-sharing agreement with each other.

As per the seat agreement, Congress is contesting 17 seats, and the Samajwadi Party has the remaining 63 seats in the electorally crucial state. In the 2019 general elections, the BJP emerged triumphant, securing 62 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, supplemented by two seats clinched by its ally Apna Dal (S). Mayawati's BSP managed to secure 10 seats, while Akhilesh Yadav's SP garnered five.

Conversely, the Congress party secured only one seat. Polling for the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections will be held on June 1. The counting of the votes will be held on June 4.