In the vitriolic campaign for the Hyderabad civic body election next week, political speeches will be monitored and action will be taken against anything found inflammatory, the Telangana police warned today.
"We have definite information about some elements are trying to incite communal trouble. We are examining the speeches carefully. Action will be taken per law against those trying to create disturbances," said Director General of Police Mahender Reddy after a security meeting.
"If we find speeches instigating trouble, cases will be registered," Mr Reddy said.
The police warning comes after controversial comments by BJP leaders in the campaign for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls on December 1.
The BJP's Tejasvi Surya, the Bangalore South MP, has made divisive remarks while taking on the state's ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and the AIMIM of Asaduddin Owaisi.
Tejasvi Surya has also been charged for entering the iconic Osmania University earlier this week without permission, the Telangana police said, adding that the University Registrar had filed a complaint of trespass against him.
"We are commissioning police from all over Telangana. If there is anything on social media, please alert the police," said the police chief, adding that 51,500 policemen would be posted for the civic polls.
He also warned against forwarding provocative messages online.
Though the polls involve electing a city mayor, the campaign has swirled around comments on Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, allegations of Rohingya infiltrators and a Hindu-Muslim narrative.
Tejasvi Surya called Asaduddin Owaisi the "modern-day Mohammed Ali Jinnah'' who wished to turn Hyderabad to "Hyderabad of Pakistan".
"Who is Owaisi? Owaisi is Jinnah's new avatar. Every single vote you give BJP is a vote for Bharat, Hindutva, to make country stronger. A vote for Owaisi is a vote against India and everything that India stands for," said Mr Surya at a meeting.
"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," Mr Surya said.
Another BJP MP, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, the party's Telangana president, threatened a "surgical strike to flush out Rohingya and Pakistanis" in the old quarters of Hyderabad. He also accused the AIMIM of relying on the votes of "Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Rohingya" living illegally in the Old city.
On the BJP alleging that Rohingya were allowed to live illegally in Hyderabad, the DGP said: "We have registered cases against Rohingya. 62 cases of fraudulent documents have been filed."
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