AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has courted controversy during his Lok Sabha campaign in Hyderabad where he was seen greeting a beef shop owner and praising the butcher in the Old City by saying: "Rehan beef shop zindabad.
After shaking hands with the people in the shop, the sitting MP from Hyderabad said, "Kaat te raho (keep slaughtering)."
Reacting to Owaisi's reported remark praising beef owner, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a press conference in Ahmedabad, "His political statements are always indecent.
The saffron party leader said, “His recent campaign antics, including endorsing a beef shop with 'Rehan Beef Shop Zindabad' & advocating for violence, are abhorrent."
Recently the BJP candidate courted controversy after a video of her gesturing to shoot an arrow, purportedly in the direction of a mosque, came to light.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has courted controversy during his Lok Sabha campaign in Hyderabad where he was seen greeting a beef shop owner and praising the butcher in the Old City by saying: "Rehan beef shop zindabad. Kaise ho bhai? Salaam alaikum’ in a viral video.
After shaking hands with the people in the shop, the sitting MP from Hyderabad said, "Kaat te raho (keep slaughtering)."
Reacting to Owaisi's reported remark praising beef owner, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a press conference in Ahmedabad, "His political statements are always indecent. I am not surprised that he passed such statements. His younger brother (Akbaruddin Owaisi) is an MLA. He is also an expert in giving such extreme statements, therefore I am not surprised."
Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, senior leader and Andhra Pradesh BJP vice president, slammed the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president accusing him of “shamelessly using inflammatory language to provoke and offend Hindu sentiments."
The saffron party leader said, “His recent campaign antics, including endorsing a beef shop with 'Rehan Beef Shop Zindabad' & advocating for violence, are abhorrent."
“Such deliberate actions only fuel hatred and widen the rifts in our society," Reddy added.
The AIMIM chief is contesting from his traditional bastion of Hyderabad, a seat which he has been representing since 2004. On Friday, he filed his nomination papers as an AIMIM candidate from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency.
He has a strong challenge this time as Kompella Madhavi Latha claimed that the Owaisi family retained the seat because of bogus voters. Recently the BJP candidate courted controversy after a video of her gesturing to shoot an arrow, purportedly in the direction of a mosque, came to light.
Attacking Latha, Owaisi alleged that the purported gesture was intended to weaken the peace among Hindus and Muslims in the city.
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"You saw that one candidate of the BJP is gesturing to shoot an arrow in the direction of a mosque. If you even feel a little bit of pain, you should vote not for the sake of the party but for that 'ibadatgah' (prayer house). If you will keep sleeping even now, when you will get up," Owaisi said.
"That imaginary arrow was not pointed at any mosque but against the peace and tranquillity of Hyderabad. It showed their (BJP) intention of destroying the peace of Hyderabad. It was done to weaken the peace among Hindus and Muslims. You can have differences with me, but peace in the city is for everyone," he added.
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