09 May,2024 12:49 PM IST | Hyderabad | mid-day online correspondent
BJP leader Navneet Rana. Pic/X
Calling the BJP candidate from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat, Madhavi Latha, a "lioness," Bharatiya Janata Party leader Navneet Rana said that Madhavi Latha will stop Hyderabad from turning into Pakistan and will work for the development of the state, reported news agency ANI.
"The manner in which Madhavi Latha is contesting like a lioness, on a family bastion seat and even the Congress is fielding a dummy candidate to support AIMIM - I feel Owaisi should contest from somewhere else and see what is real strength. The kind of support that Madhavi Latha is getting from people who are with India - all of them will vote for Madhavi Latha this time...I hope that when voting happens, Madhavi Latha will definitely stop Hyderabad from turning into Pakistan and work for the development of Hyderabad through Parliament," Amravati MP told reporters on Wednesday in Hyderabad.
Amid ongoing Lok Sabha elections 2024, she further attacked AIMIM and Congress and claimed that if the people of the country vote for AIMIM and Congress, it directly goes to Pakistan.
"If you vote for AIMIM and Congress, it goes directly to Pakistan. The kind of 'AIMIM prem' and 'Rahul prem' that Pakistan is showing - that defeat Modi and make Rahul win. Just like the Congress government governed the country on the signals of Pakistan, the same Pakistan is today saying that they love Congress and AIMIM," Navneet Rana said, reported ANI.
Madhavi Latha is pitted against a formidable opponent in the form of four-time Lok Sabha MP and AIMIM chief, Asaduddin Owaisi.
This is the first time that the BJP has fielded a female candidate from the Hyderabad constituency.
Asaduddin has been the elected representative from Hyderabad since 2004. He was previously elected as an MLA twice in the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh.
Before Owaisi, who won the seat for the first time in 2004, Hyderabad was represented in the Lok Sabha by his father, Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, from 1984. Apart from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat, all assembly seats in Hyderabad, except Goshamahal, are held by the AIMIM.
The Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency comprises seven assembly segments--Bahadurpura, Chandrayangutta, Charminar, Goshamahal, Karwan, Malakpet and Yakatpura. All assembly seats, with the sole exception of Goshamahal, are presently held by the AIMIM.
Voting for all 17 seats in Telangana will take place on May 13 in the fourth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections 2024.
In the 2019 polls, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which was then christened as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), won nine seats, while the BJP bagged four. The Congress and the AIMIM brought up the rear with three and one seats, respectively.
(With inputs from ANI)