She shared a video clip of her making the comments on her X page. Rana was campaigning in support of BJP’s Hyderabad Lok Sabha candidate K Madhavi Latha and others in Telangana on Wednesday.
Hyderabad: In an attack against AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi and his brother Akbaruddin, BJP leader Navneet Rana has said if police were removed from duty for “15 seconds, the brothers would not know from where they came and where they went”.
Rana’s attack came in response to AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi’s controversial speech in 2013 that it would take them only “15 minutes” to balance the “Hindu-Muslim ratio” in the country if police were removed.
“The younger one (Akbarauddin) says, remove police for 15 minutes and we will show what we can do. Let me tell the younger one, you will take 15 minutes, it will be only 15 seconds for us. If you remove police for 15 seconds, you won’t know where you came from and where you went away,” said Rana, the BJP’s candidate from Maharashtra’s Amravati Lok Sabha seat.
BJP leader #NavneetRana made provocative speeches in #Hyderabad giving a call to remove police for 15 seconds.
“You will take 15 minutes we will take 15 seconds. If you remove the police force for 15 seconds, big and younger brothers will not find where they would go,” she said.… pic.twitter.com/b7ZcaUn02N
— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) May 9, 2024
She shared a video clip of her making the comments on her X page. Rana was campaigning in support of BJP’s Hyderabad Lok Sabha candidate K Madhavi Latha and others in Telangana on Wednesday.
Asked about her comments, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi said he would like to tell Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give even one hour. “Modi ji has power, give 15 seconds, rather take one hour. We also would like to see how much humanity is left or not. Who is scared? Who is stopping you? The Prime Minister is yours in Delhi. RSS is yours. Everything is yours. Tell us where to come. We will come,” Owaisi said.
Responding to the comments of #BJP leader #NavneetRana, #AIMIM chief #AsaduddinOwaisi says Not 15 seconds but take 1 hour. We are not scared, we also want to see what can he do. They feel all #Muslims in India are Pakistanis but we need to defeat the #RSS ideology.… pic.twitter.com/1AxXRF4q6m
— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) May 9, 2024
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy said the ruling party at the Centre was resorting to a “drama” for the sake of “votes”. “I don’t remember this (Akbaruddin’s statement), but it appears that they are making such desperate statements to distract the public as they know that they are not getting enough votes. However, the people of Telangana are very smart and intelligent and cannot be fooled by such provocative statements that are meant merely to catch votes. This is nothing but a drama for votes. I would advise the BJP leaders to stop all this drama to grab votes,” he said.
Calling Madhavi Latha, a “lioness”, Rana said she will stop Hyderabad from turning into Pakistan and will work for the development of the State. “The manner in which Madhavi Latha is contesting like a lioness, on a family bastion seat and even the Congress is fielding a dummy candidate to support AIMIM — I feel Owaisi should contest from somewhere else and see what is real strength. The kind of support that Madhavi Latha is getting from people who are with India — all of them will vote for he this time… I hope that when voting happens, Madhavi Latha will definitely stop Hyderabad from turning into Pakistan and work for the development of Hyderabad through Parliament,” Rana said.
She further attacked the AIMIM and Congress and claimed that if the people of the country vote for the two parties, it directly goes to Pakistan. “If you vote for AIMIM and Congress, it goes directly to Pakistan. The kind of ‘AIMIM prem’ and ‘Rahul prem’ that Pakistan is showing — that defeat Modi and make Rahul win. Just like the Congress government governed the country on the signals of Pakistan, the same Pakistan is today saying they love the Congress and AIMIM,” she said.
Responding to Rana’s remarks, Owaisi claimed that the BJP “hates” India’s pluralism and diversity. “In 2014, Narendra Modi alighted 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,” he said. Revanth Reddy also responded to Rana’s remarks saying all Muslims in the country are true patriots. “How can they make such statements?
They will gain nothing by using such language. Such lowly remarks aren’t good for the country. All our Muslim brothers and sisters are proud Indians and true patriots. Doing politics in the name of Hindu and Muslim is not right. These are cheap tricks to win the elections but the people are not going to fall for such ploys this time,” Reddy said.
On Navneet’s claim that the Congress has put up a “dummy candidate” in Hyderabad as it is providing clandestine support to the AIMIM, Reddy said the BJP, too, fielded “dummy candidates” against Owaisi. “We do run into each other at official events and exchange pleasantries. He heads the AIMIM and is the sitting MP from Hyderabad. There is nothing personal, it was just a courtesy meeting between a CM and an MP at an official event. We get along well with each other and exchange views whenever we meet. I can also say that the BJP has fielded a dummy candidate (against Owaisi). But such remarks would only lead to more political sparring. They fielded a Hindu candidate against a Muslim leader. They are only doing this to make him win,” the CM said.