Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday night taunted Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for blaming the soaring prices of vegetables on Muslim vendors.
He said perhaps they blame their personal failures on "Miya bhai" as well.
Sarma stirred a huge controversy earlier on Friday by claiming Muslim vegetable sellers are jacking up vegetable prices, and if "Assamese people" sold vegetables, they would've never charged "their Assamese people" more.
"Who are the people who have increased the price of vegetables so much? They are Miya traders, who are selling vegetables at a higher price," Sarma reportedly said.
'Miya', in local parlance, refers to Bengali-speaking Muslims who live in Assam but are believed to have originally migrated from Bangladesh.
The Assam Chief Minister has often chastised the Miya community for being "very communal".
He has even suggested they are 'outsiders', accusing them of trying to distort Assamese culture and language.
"Miya traders are charging high prices for vegetables from Assamese people in Guwahati, while the price of vegetables is low in the villages. If Assamese traders were selling vegetables today, they would never have charged more from their Assamese people," he added, according to a BBC report.
Owaisi, President of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), hit back with a sharp retort.
"There is such a mandali (group) in the country who will blame Miya ji even when the buffalo does not give milk or the hen does not lay eggs in their house. Perhaps they blame their 'personal' failures on Miya bhai as well," he said, as per NDTV report.
The AIMIM chief also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying there's deep friendship going on between the PM and foreign Muslims.
