‘Tell us where to come?’ Asaduddin Owaisi accepts Navneet Rana's ‘15-second’ challenge

All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) supremo Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday accepted BJP MP Navneet Rana's challenge who said that “it would take us 15 seconds if the police were removed or made to stand down”, referring to a provocative statement by Akbaruddin Owaisi from 2013, and said that Rana should tell that where to reach, and he would be there.

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Hitting out at the BJP leader, Owaisi said, "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," news agency ANI quoted Owaisi as saying.

He further said that the AIMIM is ready if someone is openly challenging it. "Who is scared? We are ready...If someone is making open call for it, then so be it...PM is yours, RSS is yous, everything is yours. Do it. Who is stopping you...Tell us where we have to come, we will be there. Do it," he added.

A massive controversy was triggered after Navneet Rana issued a veiled warning to the Owaisi brothers in their stronghold Hyderabad saying “it would take us 15 seconds if the police were removed or made to stand down”.

"The younger brother says 'remove the police for 15 minutes so that we can show them what we can do'. I want to tell the younger brother (Akbaruddin) that 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," Rana who was campaigning for BJP's candidate from Hyderabad, Madhavi Latha on Wednesday, was heard saying in a video clip she posted on her X handle, tagging the Owaisi brothers.

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Rana was referring to Asaduddin's younger brother Akbaruddin Owaisi's provocative statement in 2013 where he purportedly warned “100 crore Hindus” that his community would show what it could do if the police were withdrawn for "15 minutes".

Rana further praised the fierce campaigning of Madhavi Latha and said that the latter would 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 Madhavi Latha 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," she said.

Elections 2024:

For this Lok Sabha election, BJP named Madhavi Latha as its candidate against four-time MP Owaisi, while BRS fielded Gaddam Srinivas Yadav. This is the first time that the BJP has fielded a female candidate from the Hyderabad constituency. Meanwhile, the voting in Telangana would be held in a single phase on May 13 and the counting of votes would take place on June 4.

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In 1984, Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi won the Hyderabad seat as an independent candidate and later, from 1989 to 1999, as an AIMIM candidate. After him, Asaddudin Owaisi carried forward the legacy, holding the seat since 2004. In 2019, 14 candidates contested against Owaisi. He won the seat by securing 58.94% of the total votes polled, maintaining his dominance.

The resurgence of the Congress witnessed in the 2023 assembly polls in the region posed a significant challenge to AIMIM's dominance in Hyderabad.