True Muslims cannot vote for BJP, says Azmi

May 2, 2014

Mumbai, May 2: A day after making comments that Muslims who do not vote for his party are not "true Muslims", Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi today said true Muslims cannot vote for BJP.

Azmi

"BJP has always been cruel and unjust towards Muslims. Then how can a true Muslim vote for the BJP? When Mulayam Singh was the chief minister, he saved the Babri Masjid from getting demolished," Azmi told PTI today over phone.

"There was a time when the madrasas in UP were termed as dens of the ISI. But after the SP government came in power, they got justice. Now no one dares to relate madrasas to the ISI," he said. He said the BJP's claims of Muslims joining the saffron outfit are untrue.

"When there are public meets by the BJP and its prime ministerial candidate, burqa clad women and men with beard are being made to sit on stage with BJP leaders to give a false impression that Muslims are supporting the saffron party. But these are duplicate Muslims," Azmi alleged.

Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Shaina NC said such statements are made only to play vote-bank politics.

"The BJP condemns his statement. He is a regressive human being who has humiliated women in the past and is now humiliating his own party. The voters should give him a befitting reply...enough of regressive thoughts and votebank politics," Shaina told PTI.

Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha alleged that the Samajwadi Party government failed to protect Muslims in UP during the Muzaffarnagar riots.

"The state(UP) government has been caught napping and has been proved ineffectual in stopping the riots. And that by itself is a manifestation that SP has failed to protect minorities, particularly the Muslims," Jha said.

While addressing a rally at Khalilabad in UP yesterday, Azmi had raked up a controversy by saying Muslims who do not vote for SP are not "true Muslims" and that their DNA test should be conducted to see if they are from the RSS.

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News Network
December 6,2025

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With IndiGo flight disruptions impacting thousands of passengers, the airline on Saturday said that it will offer full waiver on all cancellations/reschedule requests for travel bookings between December 5, 2025 and December 15, 2025.

Earlier in the day, the civil aviation ministry had directed the airline to complete the ticket refund process for the cancelled flights by Sunday evening, as well as ensure baggage separated from the travellers are delivered in the next two days.

In a post on X, titled 'No questions asked', IndiGo wrote, "In response to recent events, all refunds for your cancellations will be processed automatically to your original mode of payment."

"We are deeply sorry for the hardships caused," it further added.

Several passengers, however, complained of not getting full refund as promised by the airline.

Netizens have shared screenchots of getting charged for airline cancellation fee and convenience fee.

"Please tell me why u have did this airline cancellation charges when u say full amount will be refunded (sic)," a user wrote sharing a screenshot of the refund page.

"Well, but you have still debited the convenience charges," wrote another.

Passengers have also raised concerns about the "cancel" option being disabled on the IndiGo app. "First enable the 'Cancel' button on your App & offer full refund on tickets cancelled by customers between the said dates," wrote a user.

A day after the country's largest airline, IndiGo, cancelled more than 1,000 flights and caused disruptions for the fifth day on Saturday, the ministry said that any delay or non-compliance in refund processing will invite immediate regulatory action.

The refund process for all cancelled or disrupted flights must be completed by 8 pm on Sunday, the ministry said in a statement.

"Airlines have also been instructed not to levy any rescheduling charges for passengers whose travel plans were affected by cancellations," it said.

On Saturday, more than 400 flights were cancelled at various airports.

IndiGo has also been instructed to set up dedicated passenger support and refund facilitation cells.

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News Network
December 16,2025

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The deletion of over 58 lakh names from West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has sparked widespread concern and is likely to deepen political tensions in the poll-bound state.

According to the Election Commission, the revision exercise has identified 24 lakh voters as deceased, 19 lakh as relocated, 12 lakh as missing, and 1.3 lakh as duplicate entries. The draft list, published after the completion of the first phase of SIR, aims to remove errors and duplication from the electoral rolls.

However, the scale of deletions has raised fears that a large number of eligible voters may have been wrongly excluded. The Election Commission has said that individuals whose names are missing can file objections and seek corrections. The final voter list is scheduled to be published in February next year, after which the Assembly election announcement is expected. Notably, the last Special Intensive Revision in Bengal was conducted in 2002.

The development has intensified the political row over the SIR process. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress have strongly opposed the exercise, accusing the Centre and the Election Commission of attempting to disenfranchise lakhs of voters ahead of the elections.

Addressing a rally in Krishnanagar earlier this month, Banerjee urged people to protest if their names were removed from the voter list, alleging intimidation during elections and warning of serious consequences if voting rights were taken away.

The BJP, meanwhile, has defended the revision and accused the Trinamool Congress of politicising the issue to protect what it claims is an illegal voter base. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the ruling party fears losing power due to the removal of deceased, fake, and illegal voters.

The controversy comes amid earlier allegations by the Trinamool Congress that excessive work pressure during the SIR led to the deaths by suicide of some Booth Level Officers (BLOs), for which the party blamed the Election Commission. With the draft list now out, another round of political confrontation appears imminent.

As objections begin to be filed, the focus will be on whether the correction mechanism is accessible, transparent, and timely—critical factors in ensuring that no eligible voter is denied their democratic right ahead of a crucial election.

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