Owaisi's jibe at BJP: Only Trump left to campaign for Hyderabad polls

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief, Asaduddin Owaisi, made a snide remark about the BJP sending its top leaders to campaign for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls saying US President Donald Trump was the only person left to campaign in the city.

The election seemed more like one to elect a Prime Minister and less like one for the municipal corporation, he said addressing a public rally at Langer House in Hyderabad on Saturday (November 28).

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From the campaigning, it would seem that the election is for a “new wazir-e-azam (Prime Minister)”, he said, adding, he has been referred to as Jinnah.

“The BJP is calling its big ministers and Chief Ministers. Now only Donald Trump is left to campaign for Hyderabad’s municipal elections. You call him, too, but nothing will matter. Inshallah, Majlis (AIMIM) will succeed,” he said, reported NDTV.

Earlier this week on November 27, Owaisi dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to campaign for the GMHC to see how many seats the BJP wins.

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Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), AIMIM, and BJP are contesting for the GHMC to be held on December 1. The counting of votes will be done on December 4.

Some of BJP’s top leaders, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, party national, JP Nadda, and Union ministers Prakash Javadekar and Smriti Irani, have been campaigning for the GHMC polls. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been conducting a roadshow in the city on Sunday (November 29).

The campaign has been rife with mud-slinging. BJP state president Bandi Sanjay warned of a “surgical strike to flush out Rohingyas and Pakistanis” in Hyderabad, while Bengaluru South MP Tejaswi Surya has described Owaisi as a “modern Mohammed Ali Jinnah”. The city police had to intervene to warn politicians against communal instigation.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao appealed to voters to choose “progressive” parties over “divisive forces”.