Hyderabad, Nov. 4 -- All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday took a sharp swipe at both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), asserting that Muslims will no longer be treated as mere vote banks and will emerge as leaders and lawmakers in Uttar Pradesh.

Invoking the electoral success of Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed in the United States to argue for stronger minority representation, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owais stated that Muslims have traditionally been stereotyped in Indian political rhetoric.

"Abdul won in Michigan. Did this not become an issue when I said something on it? People from the BJP used to mock and say, 'Abdul puncture banata hai' (Abdul repairs punctu...