Hyderabad: Accusing him of seeking votes in the name of the Babri Masjid, BJP candidate from Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat, Madhavi Latha said that the Election Commission should take action against AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi for allegedly provoking people by discussing "religion and beef".
She accused Owaisi of asking people to "slaughter" cows and "eat" beef, questioning do Muslims have nothing to do else in life other than consuming beef.
"They (AIMIM) are going against the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and the Election Commission should take action against them. They are coming out in public and asking people to slaughter cows and eat beef. They are asking for votes in the name of Babri Masjid," Latha told ANI.
She added, "Surprisingly, an educated barrister like Asaduddin Owaisi is saying this. What is worrisome is, that he wants Muslims limited to eating beef, he does not want them to move on from all this. Pasmanda Muslims should think about this, do they have nothing else in life other than beef?"
She suggested that Muslims need to think if they want the situation of minorities to remain the same for the next 40 years.
"He never talks to people about any manifesto... He has only two things to talk about, religion and beef... He does nothing except provocation... He has come 40 years slaughtering and eating beef, now Muslims need to think if they want things to continue like this for the next 40 years..."
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. BJP has fielded Madhavi Latha from the Hyderabad constituency.
Since 1984, candidates from the Owaisi family or those supported by them, have been elected from Hyderabad, with Owaisi currently serving as the Lok Sabha member from the prestigious seat.
Polling for 17 parliamentary constituencies in Telangana will be held on May 13. In the 2019 general election, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) won nine seats, Bharatiya Janata Party four, Congress three and AIMIM one seat.
The voting for the first two phases have been completed so far.
The next round of voting will be held on May 7.
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.)