BJP leader Navneet Rana issued a threat to the Owaisi brothers in their own bastion quoting the infamous provocative remark of AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi that if the police were withdrawn for 15 minutes, his community would ensure that the population ratio of the country is evened out.

Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, while sidestepping his brother’s statement, dared Rana to go ahead with her challenge while state Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy slammed the BJP for resorting to cheap drama to garner votes.

Rana, the BJP candidate from Amravati in Maharashtra, made several provocative remarks against the Owaisis during her campaigning for the party candidate from Old City, Madhavi Latha. She said, “The younger one had asked to ‘withdraw the police for 15 minutes so that we could show you what we can do’. I am here to tell him, you might need 15 minutes, but we require just 15 seconds.”

She further said if the police are withdrawn, “you won’t be able to even recall from where you have come from and where you have gone in just 15 seconds”.

She made an appeal to the people of the constituency to vote for Madhavi Latha to ensure that Hyderabad does not turn into another Pakistan.

In a controversial statement in 2013, Akbaruddin said if the police were withdrawn for 15 minutes, they (alluding to his community) would show 100 crore Hindus what his community could do to them. He had been widely condemned for his crude remark and was even arrested and incarcerated.

When asked about Navneet Rana’s remark as also his brother’s ultimatum that landed him in jail, albeit for a brief period, the senior Owaisi said, “We are not scared; let her (Rana) take even an hour’s time instead of 15 seconds.”

Daring Rana to go ahead with her threat, he said, “In Delhi, the prime minister is yours, RSS is yours. Do whatever you want to do. Just tell us where to go, and then go ahead and do as you wish.”

Reacting to the reference to Pakistan, Asaduddin Owaisi recounted how Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made an unscheduled stopover at Nawaz Sharif’s residence in Pakistan. “Begani shadi mein Abdullah deewana (gloating over the celebrations of the unrelated), what was that? They think Muslims in India are Pakistanis,” He asked.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said, “As they (the BJP) are not getting votes, they are trying to create such controversies to garner some votes. Here, people are aware and smart; they do not get into such controversies. They cannot get votes like this. They are doing this drama to get votes. I suggest them to stop all the drama.”

The Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat has been with the AIMIM since 1984 when Salahuddin Owaisi, father of the Owaisi brothers, won the seat. He was succeeded by Asaduddin in 2004.

The constituency comprising mostly the Old City area has both Hindu and Muslim electorates. While the AIMIM does face some opposition from a section of the Muslim community, who do not support the party, there is a section of Hindu voters who prefer to vote for the party owing to their accessibility.