Hyderabad: Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark that Congress and BRS had given Hyderabad "on lease" to AIMIM, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday asserted that the people of Hyderabad are not cattle, adding that they are the citizens, not the property of political parties.
PM Modi on Wednesday trained guns at Congress and BRS and alleged that for all these years, Congress and BRS have given Hyderabad to AIMIM on "lease."
"Modi came to Telangana and said that the Hyderabad seat had been given on lease to Owaisi. The people of Hyderabad are not cattle. We are citizens, not the property of political parties. For forty years, Hyderabad has defeated the evil ideology of Hindutva and entrusted AIMIM. Inshallah, Hindutva will be defeated again," Mr Owaisi posted on X.
He further turned the focus towards electoral funding. Mr Owaisi criticised PM Modi and said, "Modi is bonded to those who gave his party Rs 6,000 crore through electoral bonds. In return, he has leased/sold India's assets to his sponsors."
"Modi appeased them so much that today, 21 people have more wealth than 70 crore Indians in total. Those 21 are his real parivar," he added.
Earlier, speaking to ANI, the AIMIM chief claimed that PM Modi is frustrated, adding that AIMIM has been defeating the BJP for 40 years.
"We have been defeating BJP for 40 years...in 2014 and 2019, PM Modi came but AIMIM won here...I want to ask PM, where is the money for PM care funds, in which bank is the electoral bond money?...unemployment and inflation are increasing...this year PM Modi wants to change the constitution so that he can end the reservation. He says that we are infiltrators and our daughters give birth to so many children, this is wrong. Will a Muslim take out the 'Mangalsutra' from a Hindu woman? Prime Minister is frustrated," he added.
On Wednesday, addressing a rally in Telangana's Karimnagar, PM Modi trained guns at Congress and BRS and alleged that for all these years, Congress and BRS have given Hyderabad to AIMIM on "lease."
"For all these years, both these parties (Congress and BRS) have given Hyderabad to AIMIM on lease. If someone has challenged the AIMIM for the first time, it's BJP. More than AIMIM, it's Congress and BRS who are rattled by the challenge from the BJP. Both are helping AIMIM to win in Hyderabad," he added
Madhavi Latha is set to face Asaduddin Owaisi, who is a four-time Lok Sabha MP from the Hyderabad constituency. It is worth mentioning that this is the first time that the BJP has fielded a female candidate from the Hyderabad constituency.
Asaduddin Owaisi, who has served four terms in the Lok Sabha as the elected representative from Hyderabad since 2004, was previously elected as an MLA twice in the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh.
Before Mr Owaisi, who won the seat for the first time in 2004, Hyderabad was represented in the Lok Sabha by his father, Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, from 1984. Apart from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat, all assembly seats in Hyderabad, except Goshamahal, are 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 Lok Sabha Elections 2024. In the 2019 general election, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) won nine seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party four, Congress three and AIMIM one seat.
The BJP had won four seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections out of the 17 at stake in Telangana, namely Secunderabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, and Adilabad.
Lok Sabha polls are being held across seven phases till June 1 and votes will be counted on June 4.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)