Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tejasvi Surya on Monday, 23 November, launched a scathing attack on All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi and accused him of “playing divisive and communal politics.” The AIMIM chief hit back at Surya, saying that the BJP’s intention was to create hatred.
Surya was campaigning for the upcoming Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections.
“Owaisi is Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s new avatar. TRS and MIM are two faces of the same coin. KCR wants to turn Hyderabad into Istanbul. Turkey is a 100 percent Muslim country. Turkey’s president talks against our country. MIM wants Hyderabad of India to look like Hyderabad of Pakistan. We will make Hyderabad as Bhagyanagar but not Istanbul,” ANI quoted Surya as saying.
Surya said that every vote for Owaisi was a vote against India and “everything India stands for.”
“Owaisi speaks the language of rabid Islamism, separatism and extremism which Mohammed Ali Jinnah also spoke. Every Indian should stand against divisive and communal politics of the Owaisi brothers,” the BJP MP said.
Furthering his attacks, Surya stated that the people of Telangana should vote for development and vote against dynasty politics.
“We have finished family politics in the country. In Kashmir, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti have been sent to a permanent quarantine by the people,” he said, reported ANI.
Surya also accused the AIMIM leaders of “allowing only Rohingya Muslims, not development”, in Hyderabad.
“Owaisi and his brother haven’t allowed development in old Hyderabad. The only thing they have allowed is Rohingya Muslims,” Surya said.
Continuing with his tirade, Surya said: “I want to tell Akbaruddin and Asaduddin Owaisi, this is not the time of Nizams. This is the time of Hindu Hruday Samrat Narendra Modi. You will be nothing here,” reported NDTV.
Owaisi Hits Back at Tejasvi Surya
“Their intention is to create hatred. This fight is between Hyderabad and Bhagyanagar. It is your responsibility now to decide who will win,” ANI quoted Owaisi as saying.
Speaking on the Rohingya issue, the AIMIM chief said: “If there are 30,000 Rohingyas in the electoral list, what is Home Minister Amit Shah doing? Is he sleeping? Isn’t this his job to see how 30,000-40,000 Rohingyas are listed? If the BJP is honest, it should show 1,000 such names by tomorrow,” ANI reported.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation polls will be held on 1 December, and the BJP is seeing these polls as an entry point into South India.
“Change Hyderabad today, change Telangana tomorrow, change South India day after tomorrow. The whole nation is watching Hyderabad,” said Surya, reported NDTV.
Earlier on Sunday, 22 November, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Environment Prakash Javadekar said that the TRS government should give an account of what it had done for the twin cities in the last six years.
He further stated that “A vote for TRS is a vote for Majlis Party. They will come together again after the elections,” reported The Hindu.
(With inputs from ANI, The Hindu and NDTV)
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