A bitter war of words has broken out between Telangana Congress chief A. Revanth Reddy and MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi over the alleged links with the RSS.
After Revanth Reddy’s remarks that there is ‘khaki knicker’ under Asaduddin Owaisi’s Sherwani, the latter hit back at the Congress leader calling him ‘RSS puppet’.
Asaduddin Owaisi, a member of Lok Sabha from Hyderabad, and leader of his friendly party Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) have been targeting Revanth Reddy for the last few weeks over his alleged RSS background.
During the public meetings as part of the election campaign, Asaduddin Owaisi and his brother Akbaruddin Owaisi have been alleging that Revanth Reddy was promoting the RSS agenda.
BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao had also raked up the issue on several occasions and remarked that the Congress turned Gandhi Bhavan (state Congress headquarters) into ‘Godse Bhavan’ by appointing a man with RSS background as its state chief.
The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) committee chief, while admitting that he was associated with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in the past, denied any links with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The latest round of sharp exchanges started last week when Revanth Reddy reacted sharply to Asaduddin Owaisi addressing him as ‘RSS Anna’ during election rallies.
Stepping up his attack on Owaisi, Revanth Reddy on Monday remarked that there is ‘khaki knicker’ under Asaduddin Owaisi’s sherwani. “I thought Asaduddin Owaisi has pyjamas under his Sherwani but there is a Khaki knicker under it,” he said.
The TPCC chief also mentioned that MIM is a party of Qasim Rizvi, who was leader of Razakars, the private militia of Nizam which had opposed Hyderabad State's integration with the Indian Union. He also stated that Darussalam, the headquarters of MIM, is a property of Qasim Rizvi.
“Can I call you Qasim Rizvi today,” he asked Owaisi. Later, Revanth Reddy went on to add that he will start calling Asaduddin Owaisi, Qasim Rizvi.
The MIM chief hit back at Revanth Reddy for his remarks, saying he was targeting sherwani which is a symbol of ‘our culture and our identity’. “In Telangana RSS Anna has joined Congress after working in ABVP, BJP and TDP,” he said at a public meeting in Hyderabad on Monday night.
On the Congress leader’s allegation that MIM is the party of Razakars, Owaisi asked why former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had visited Darussalam to seek support of MIM.
Accusing Revanth Reddy of promoting ‘Sanghi' agenda, Owaisi said he was attacking the identity of Muslims. “This shows that RSS is controlling Congress and Congress has become a puppet of RSS. There is no difference between BJP and Congress,” he said and appealed to people to defeat both the parties.