In the latest exchange of verbal volleys, All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi responded on Monday to Telangana Congress Chief Revanth Reddy's remarks during a public rally, accusing him of engaging in "dog whistle politics" targeting the minority class. Owaisi dismissed Reddy's criticisms as lacking substance and resorting to personal attacks.
Addressing the crowd in Hyderabad, Owaisi retorted, "You (Revanth Reddy) don't have anything to criticize against us. You speak about our clothes and beards and attack us. It is called dog whistle politics. You are an RSS puppet. There is no difference between the BJP and the Congress."
The verbal sparring ignited when Reddy took a jab at Owaisi, claiming that the AIMIM leader "wears a khaki knicker under his sherwani." Both Congress and AIMIM have been attempting to brand each other as the 'B' team of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Last week, cutouts depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi controlling Owaisi and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao were displayed in Hyderabad.
Owaisi continued, "Telangana PCC chief started as an RSS member wearing a chaddi and then went to ABVP, then joined Telugu Desam and now come to Congress. Someone said it right that Congress's Gandhi Bhavan is captured by Mohan Bhagwat and will run Congress however he wants."
The ruling BRS intensified its criticism of Congress, with the party's working president and minister K T Rama Rao accusing the grand old party of exploiting minority communities for political gain. Speaking at a roadshow in Parigi, Vikarabad district, KTR alleged that Congress used minorities as a vote bank without improving their living conditions.
As Telangana gears up for assembly elections on November 30, the political landscape is witnessing heightened tensions and a spirited campaign by the Congress party. Vote counting, along with four other poll-bound states, is scheduled for December 3.
