Invoking a controversial statement made by AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi in 2013, BJP leader Navneet Rana issued a veiled warning to the Owaisi brothers in Hyderabad on Wednesday. Responding to Akbaruddin’s statement about “balancing out the Hindu-Muslim ratio” in the country within ’15 minutes’, Navneet, who is seeking re-election to the Lok Sabha from Amravati on a BJP ticket, retorted that it would only take the BJP ’15 seconds’ if the police were removed or made to stand down.
“The younger brother says ‘remove the police for 15 minutes so that we can show them what we can do’. I want to tell the younger brother (Akbaruddin) that it might take you 15 minutes, but it will only take us 15 seconds…it will take us all of 15 seconds if we come to the forefront,” Rana said in a video clip she posted on her social media handle, directly addressing the Owaisi brothers.
In 2013, Akbaruddin Owaisi had warned “100 crore Hindus” that his community would demonstrate their strength if the police were withdrawn for ’15 minutes’.
Navneet made these remarks while campaigning for Madhavi Latha, the BJP’s candidate for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency. Latha is challenging the four-time Lok Sabha MP and AIMIM chief, Asaduddin Owaisi, in what is historically a stronghold for the AIMIM.
This election marks the first time that the BJP has fielded a female candidate from the Hyderabad constituency. Asaduddin has been representing Hyderabad since 2004, having previously served two terms as an MLA in undivided Andhra Pradesh.
Before Asaduddin Owaisi, the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat was held by his father, Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, starting from 1984. Apart from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat, all assembly seats in Hyderabad, except Goshamahal, are currently held by the AIMIM.
The Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency comprises seven assembly segments–Bahadurpura, Chandrayangutta, Charminar, Goshamahal, Karwan, Malakpet, and Yakatpura. All assembly seats, except Goshamahal, are presently held by the AIMIM.
Voting for all 17 seats in Telangana will take place on May 13 in the fourth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. In the 2019 polls, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which was then known as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), won nine seats, while the BJP secured four. The Congress and the AIMIM won three and one seat respectively.
