“India is my father’s country. Nobody can force me to flee,” was how MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday reacted to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s comment that if BJP comes to power in the Telangana, Owaisi will have to flee.

“It is my religious belief that Prophet Adam when he descended on the Earth from Paradise, he came to India. Thus India is my father’s country and nobody can force me to flee,” the Hyderabad MP told an election rally of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) on Sunday night.

Speaking at an election rally of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) earlier in the day at Tandur, Adityanath had said that if his party comes to power in Telangana, Owaisi will flee the way Nizam had to flee Hyderabad.

Owaisi said the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister was ignorant of the history as Nizam did not flee Hyderabad.

“Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan did not flee Hyderabad. He was made ‘Raj Pramukh’ and when there was war with China, he offered his gold to India,” said Owaisi.

The MP said he would not be scared by such threats and propaganda. “This is only Yogi’s speech but the language and mentality is of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.

Owaisi said Yogi should speak like a Chief Minister and uphold the dignity of the office he is holding.

He suggested that the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister should first take care of his constituency where 150 children die of encephalitis every year.

Meanwhile, Asaduddin Owaisi’s younger brother Akbaruddin Owaisi has also reacted strongly to Adityanath’s threat, saying nobody can force them to flee.

“We are not the one who will flee. Our 1,000 generations will live here,” the MIM leader said at a public meeting.

Addressing a Bharatiya Janata Party election rally at Tandur near Hyderabad on Sunday, Adityanath said the BJP would give security to all but would not allow anybody to spread anarchy.

The BJP leader was apparently referring to the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) President and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi and his younger brother.

Telangana will go to polls along with Rajasthan on December 7 and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 11.

(With inputs from IANS)