Ahead of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation(GHMC) elections, the police have booked AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi and the President of the Telangana BJP, Bandi Sanjay Kumar.
Both the politicians have been charged under Section 505 of the Indian Penal Code which pertains to making statements conducing to public mischief. The suo moto cases against the two leaders were filed at SR Nagar Station for allegedly making inflammatory statements on the hustings of the GHMC polls.
The development comes after a massive political outrage was triggered following Akbaruddin Owaisi’s speech on November 25 during which he asked the government to remove PV Narasimha Rao ghat and NTR ghat near Hussainsagar before removing the encroachments of the poor.
In response to this provocative remark, BJP state president Sanjay said that if any of the two ghats mentioned by Akbaruddin is touched, Darusalam, where the AIMIM party office is located, will be targeted.
Following this verbal, DGP M Mahender Reddy, during a press conference a couple of days ago, stated that the police is scrutinising the provocative statements made by various politicians during the election campaign and legal advise was being consulted before initiating action.
Akbaruddin Owaisi has a history of courting controversies
It is important to note that Akbaruddin Owaisi has a history of ginning up public frenzy by making controversial and highly inflammatory statements. In the past, Akbaruddin had sought 15 minutes from the police to show Hindus their place.
In his controversial remark made in 2013, the junior Owaisi had said that if police is removed for 15 minutes, “we (Muslims) will finish 100 crore Hindus”. Owaisi, a polarising figure in India’s political arena, also made a speech in which he insulted the pantheon of the Hindu Gods and poured scorn over Hinduism.
BJP deploys party heavyweights for the upcoming GHMC polls
The GHMC polls are scheduled to happen on December 1 while the results will be announced on December 4. Last time around, the TRS bagged 99 of the total 150 divisions, while the AIMIM won 44 and the BJP came a distant third with just 4 victories.
However, this time around, the saffron party has made the polls a prestige issue, running a spirited campaign for the forthcoming elections. Several party heavyweights such as Amit Shah, JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath have been called into action, turning the municipal corporation election into a high voltage battle.
