MIM Violence: All-Party Team To Meet PM, President

The entire Opposition in Telangana united against the MIM today.

Demanding the arrest of MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and his followers immediately for the rampant and blatant violence in the Old City during the GHMC elections on February 2, an all-Party committee comprising Congress, TDP, BJP and YSR Congress stated that it would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and President Pranab Mukherji to intervene in the issue.

It also said that the Governor should initiate action against the persons who resorted to the attacks.

Speaking to the media in the Assembly premises after a two-hour meeting at the Congress Legislature Office (CLP) on Wednesday along with TTDP President L Ramana, BJLP leader Dr K Laxman, YSRCP leader K Shiva Kumar, BJP MLA Chintala Ramachandra Reddy, Congress MLC Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy and Opposition leader in the Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir, CLP leader K Jana Reddy alleged that the ruling TRS had resorted to irregularities from the beginning like removal of voters from the list, divisions' re-organization and announcement of reservations.

To cap it all, the chief of the TRS' ally MIM, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, attacked the Telangana PCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy and the Opposition leader in the Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir, and destroyed Reddy's car, Jana Reddy alleged, and demanded that the State government initiate action immediately and arrest Owaisi and his followers for the attack.

He said that if the State government did not initiate action against Owaisi, investments stop coming to the State due to a perception that it has law and order problems.

He added that it was not proper to the police to have remained spectators to the episode, and warned the government that anti-government movements would start off if the government remained inactive in such incidents.

Alleging that the TRS had implemented the plans of the MIM during the GHMC elections, BJP leader K Laxman demanded the government arrest the persons who attacked Congress, BJP and TDP leaders during the GHMC elections.

He also demanded that the government to file an SC/ST Atrocities case against the persons attacked the Janganmet division's BJP candidate.

Lamenting that democracy was being ridiculed in the newly-formed Telangana State and that the State Election Commission had become a mere figurehead, Laxman said that it was time for the Governor to protect the law and order in Hyderabad. He said that the Governor needed to initiate action as per Section 8 of the Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation Act in case the State government failed to initiate action against the MIM leader and his cadre as per the law.

Laxman felt, too, that the new State would not get investments in these conditions. He confirmed that the Opposition leaders would meet the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister and President in this regard.

Condemning the attacks, Ramana said that the TDP would raise the issue in the Assembly. Alleging that the TRS government had failed in protecting the law and order in the GHMC elections, he said that the ruling Party had also distributed money indiscriminately in the elections.

YSRCP leader Shiva Kumar alleged that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's hand was there behind the attacks by the MIM on the Congress leaders. He alleged that the Election Commission never took any action on any of the irregularities that were reported to it during the entire election process.