Senior All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader and Chandrayangutta MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi on Monday lashed out at the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
Speaking in Tandur ahead of the state's municipal elections, scheduled to be held on January 22, Akbaruddin Owaisi slammed former Secunderabad MLA Talsani Srinivas Yadav, for his comment that AIMIM was an 'old city' party.
"Some leaders of the TRS are saying that majlis is an old city party. Let me ask TRS supporters, doesn't AIMIM have MLAs in Maharashtra and Bihar? We have an MP in Maharashtra as well. Does TRS have an MLA outside Telangana? There are Telugu speaking people in Andhra. Can the TRS go and win seats from there?" he asked, amid cheers from the gathering.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and TRS President and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao are known to share a cordial relationship. However, the parties are not in an official alliance, and contest against each other, especially during the municipal polls.
Stating that he was staying quiet because of the respect he had for his brother, Akbaruddin Owaisi referred to the 'car' which is the TRS' logo, and said, "If Akbaruddin begins speaking, remember that your clothes will be torn and tyres will turn inside out."
Warning TRS leaders to refrain from making provocative statements, Akbaruddin Owaisi said that his party could dethrone any government in the state.
This is not the first time that the 5-time MLA has made such a comment. Ahead of the Assembly elections in 2018, Akbaruddin, while campaigning in Rajendranagar, had said that while the "car may be running the state", the "steering wheel was in the AIMIM's hand."
Akbaruddin, who is the party's floor leader in the Assembly, also faces several cases of hate speech and is known for making communally charged statements.
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