In a fiery response, Asaduddin Owaisi, the chief of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), hit back at BJP leader Navneet Rana over her controversial ’15 seconds’ threat remark.
Rana, the BJP candidate from Maharashtra’s Amravati, had addressed a public meeting in support of the party’s Hyderabad candidate, Madhavi Latha, and issued an open threat to the Owaisi brothers. Referring to AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi’s 2013 speech, Rana said, “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.”
Responding to Rana’s remarks, Asaduddin Owaisi said he would like to tell Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give her even one hour. “I tell Modi ji – give her 15 seconds. What will you do?… Give her 15 seconds, give her 1 hour. We, too, want to see if you have any humanity left in you. Who is scared? We are ready…If someone is making an open call for it, then so be it,” said Owaisi while addressing the media.
Owaisi also slammed Rana for her controversial comment that said the vote given to AIMIM and Congress directly goes to Pakistan. “In 2014, Narendra Modi landed at the home of Nawaz Sharif all of a sudden…What was that? They feel all Muslims in India are Pakistanis. We have to defeat this RSS ideology. They hate India’s pluralism and diversity,” Owaisi added.
The war of words between the BJP and AIMIM leaders has intensified as the Lok Sabha elections approach. While former Maharashtra CM and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan asked the Election Commission to investigate Rana’s statement, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anand Dubey said that whether it is Navneet Rana or Owaisi brothers, they speak the same language.
The Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat has been with the AIMIM since 1984, and Asaduddin Owaisi has been the representative for the constituency since 2004. The BJP has selected Madhavi Latha as a candidate to run against Owaisi, in what has evolved into a bitter and highly vitriolic campaign.
