Disqualify MIM, BJP From GHMC Elections: Congress

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President & MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Thursday demanded that the State Election Commission disqualify the BJP and the MIM from contesting the GHMC elections, for attempting to inciting communal hatred among the people.

Reddy, along with former minister & ex-Leader of Opposition Mohammed Ali Shabbir, AICC Secretary Madhu Yashki Goud and other leaders, was addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan on Thursday after releasing two brochures and a pamphlet on the contribution of the Congress governments to the development of Hyderabad, and the failures of the TRS regime.

The TPCC chief expressed serious concern over the Election Commission and the state police not taking serious note of the provocative statements of the BJP and the MIM leaders during their GHMC campaigns.

"I'm surprised as to how the State Election Commission and the state government are not interfering to stop this provocative campaign," he said, and demanded that both the parties be barred from participating in the GHMC elections.

He also said that the SEC appeared to have become defunct. "It did not even respond to our complaint of the TRS misusing public places for its publicity," he said.

Reddy reiterated that the BJP and the MIM were helping each other by polarising the voters.

"MIM's West Bengal unit president Anwar Pasha resigned from the party and gave a clear statement that Asaduddin Owaisi was helping the BJP win the WB polls in the same way as it had helped the saffron party come to power in Bihar. Delhi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has also made a statement that the Owaisi brothers had a secret meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. There are several instances to prove that the BJP and the MIM are secret allies and partners," he said.

The TPCC chief also strongly condemned Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay for his "surgical strike" remarks.

"I was born in the Old City of Hyderabad. Later I joined the Air Force and fought for the country at the borders. I belong to this city. In what way is Bandi Sanjay connected to Hyderabad or the Old City? Even union minister of state Kishan Reddy is not making such remarks though he is a Hyderabadi. While no Hyderabadi is talking in such terms, random BJP leaders are making provocative statements. In what way are BJP leaders like Amit Shah, J P Nadda, Yogi Adityanath, Smriti Irani, Prakash Javedkar, Bhupender Yadav and Ram Madhav connected with Hyderabad? It's a shame that BJP leaders are making senseless statements to spread hatred just to win a few seats in the GHMC elections," he said.

Uttam also slammed MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi for his remarks on the memorials of former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao and ex-Chief Minister N T Rama Rao. "What is the need for Akbaruddin Owaisi to speak about their memorials? They are not even in the Old City. P V Narasimha Rao, NTR and Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy were great leaders, and served the country and the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh throughout their lives. The BJP and the MIM leaders are misusing their names to polarise the voters," he alleged.

He appealed to the people to understand the match-fixing between the MIM and the BJP in the GHMC elections. He said that Hyderabad had been a cosmopolitan city for several centuries, and that the people should not allow any political parties to create a communal divide among them.

He also claimed that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao was the actual mastermind behind the match-fixing between the MIM and the BJP. He pointed out that the TRS always supported the BJP at the Centre, and had backed all the controversial moves of Prime Minister Narender Modi including demonetisation and GST. He said that the TRS and the BJP believed in "Delhi mein dosti & galli mein kushti", and were both enacting the drama of rivalry to cheat the voters.

"When PM Modi visited Telangana, KCR had praised him. Similarly, Akbaruddin Owaisi praised CM KCR multiple times in the Assembly. It is not very difficult for the people to understand that the TRS, the BJP and the MIM are one and the same," he said.