HYDERABAD: A heated exchange between Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi rocked the Assembly during the discussion on ‘Telangana State Power Sector - White Paper’ on Thursday. It all began with Revanth saying that Siddipet, Gajwel and Hyderabad South stood at the top three spots in power dues and that BRS leaders K Chandrasekhar Rao, Harish Rao and Akbar should take responsibility for getting these dues cleared.
The chief minister also pointed out that Akbar did not mention the misdeeds of the BRS government in his speech as he was trying his best to save his old friend. Congress MLAs are not ready to sit and watch if Akbar showers praise on his old friend KCR. Akbar never spoke about Fatima who was killed in the tragic fire accident at the Srisailam power plant, Revanth said.
“You are investing all your strength to come to the rescue of your old friend. We don’t have to learn anything from anyone. It was the Congress that gave 4% reservations to Muslims. We are committed to minority welfare and development,” Revanth said. Countering the claims of “championing Muslim rights”, the chief minister said that AIMIM did not win by bagging all the Muslim votes, and it would be unfortunate if it claimed otherwise.
'Not a representative of Muslims'
“Akbar is not a representative of Muslims or the four crore people of Telangana. The AIMIM fielded a candidate in Jubilee Hills to ensure the defeat of Md Azharuddin, a Muslim,” Revanth said. Responding, Akbar said that former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy and AIMIM collectively ensured 4% reservations for Muslims. He said that his father Salahuddin Owaisi convinced the Congress to include the Muslim quota in its manifesto.
Lashing out at the chief minister, Akbar said: “I am not the minority cell of any party. They call us the B-Team of the BJP. We are ready to die but we will never align with the party that demolished Babri Masjid and played Holi with the blood of Muslims. It was the chief minister who has worked with ABVP, BRS, TDP, BJP, RSS and Congress.”
He also took strong objection to Revanth’s comments on defeating the Congress Muslim candidate by saying that anyone is free to contest from anywhere. Intervening at this point, Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka said that it was not correct to mock the chief minister.
Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu said that Akbar was sidetracking the discussion on ‘Telangana State Power Sector - White Paper’.The minister appealed to the Speaker to expunge any derogatory remarks against the Leader of the House from the records. Meanwhile, taking objection to Akbar accusing the BJP of demolishing the Babri Masjid, BJP MLA Alleti Maheshwar Reddy said that the saffron party had nothing to do with the demolition.