Owaisi hits back at Adityanath over 'Nizam' barb
Hyderabad, Dec 3 : Hitting back at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's "Nizam" barb at him, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has said India is his father's country and no one is running away.
Addressing a poll rally here Sunday night, he also said Adityanath was speaking the language of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and he was ignorant about history.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief was reacting to Adityanath's comments at a rally in poll-bound Telangana that he would have to "run away" from Hyderabad, just like the Nizam, if the BJP came to power in the southern state.
"Yogi says if the BJP comes to power in Telangana, Owaisi will be made to run away like the Nizam. The first thing, you (Adityanath) are zero in history. If you cannot read, then ask the literate...
"Had you read (history), you would have known that the Nizam did not leave Hyderabad and Mir Osman Ali Khan was made the 'Raj Pramukh' and when there was a war with China, the same Nizam had given his gold...You are saying the Nizam had run away...he did not run away," the Hyderabad MP said.
He added that if Adityanath was willing, he could come with him to the Nizam's grave and offer flowers.
"But will you come?...You may ask to change the name of the grave also," Owaisi said, mocking Adityanath's plans to rename places in Uttar Pradesh.
"Yogi, you are a chief minister...speak like a chief minister.... In your constituency, hundreds of children are dying every year due to encephalitis... There is no oxygen in the hospitals of Gorakhpur, you are not worried about that, you are coming here and talking about building walls of hatred.... This is Narendra Modi and his party's language...and Narendra Modi's mentality...," he added.
The AIMIM chief also asserted that no one was running away.
"You talk about chasing away an MP.... Listen Uttar Pradesh chief minister, it is my religious belief that when Prophet Adam had descended on earth from paradise, he had come to Hindustan. This Hindustan is my father's country and no one can remove me from here.
"We feel pride in calling ourselves Hindustanis...but you say you will make Owaisi run away," he said.
Addressing an election rally at Tandur town of Vikarabad district, Adityanath had hit out at the AIMIM, saying, "If the BJP forms the government in Telangana, I can tell you that Owaisi will have to run away just like the Nizam was compelled to run away from Hyderabad. The BJP will give security to all, but will not allow those who spread anarchy."
The 119-member Telangana Assembly will go to polls on December 7 and the results will be announced on December 11.
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Likely to get message from BJP high command in 2 days on cabinet expansion: CM Basavaraj Bommai
Bengaluru,Jul 31: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said he is likely to get a message from the BJP high command on cabinet expansion in a couple of days and will have to leave for New Delhi once again to finalise it.
"I couldn't meet J P Nadda (BJP National President) today, but had met him yesterday.
Most likely they will send a message to me in two days and I'll have to go to Delhi once again.
We will finalise the cabinet," Bommai said.
Asked whether the cabinet expansion will take place in two stages, he told reporters here on his arrival from Delhi that it cannot be revealed now.
Bommai was on a two-day visit to Delhi during which he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Nadda, a host of central Ministers, MPs and Ministers from Karnataka, among others.
Ministerial aspirants, meanwhile, have continued lobbying to secure a berth in the new cabinet.
While several legislators, including some former Ministers, are camping in Delhi and are lobbying to make it to the new cabinet, some have openly expressed their aspirations to become Ministers.
According to party sources, some legislators like Ramesh Jarkiholi, M P Renukacharya and Munirathna have met former Chief Minister and BJP veteran B S Yediyurappa at his residence here.
Demanding a Ministerial post, Haveri MLA Neharu Olekar said he should be given an opportunity in the new cabinet and it is the wish of party workers from the constituency, who have even staged a demonstration.
"Our fight will not end. This is the third time and I should be given the opportunity... I'm confident that the leaders will bless me.
No opportunity has been given so far to anyone from the Chalawadi community by BJP,while Congress has given...so there is the fear of them shifting towards Congress," he said.
Senior BJP leader and former Minister K S Eshwarappa said he has been getting several calls stating that he should have been made the Chief Minister after Yediyurappa was removed and at least he should be made Deputy Chief Minister now.
"It is for the high command to decide," he said.
Stating that cabinet formation is left to the discretion of the Chief Minister, another senior leader and former Minister V Somanna said Basavaraj Bommai is close to him and has experience.
"His father was also a CM, and will choose his cabinet ministers."
Downplaying reports of a rift between him and another senior BJP leader R Ashoka, he said "it is an internal matter between us. It is an old issue and has nothing to do with cabinet formation or becoming a Minister.
Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah urged that the cabinet be formed at the earliest, as the CM alone cannot handle things
Meanwhile officials have to be instructed to take measures to manage flood and the COVID situation, he said.
"I don't think he (CM) discussed cabinet expansion during his Delhi visit. Maybe he may go once again...but he should have discussed it and finalised, given the current situation," he said.
Bommai, who was elected as the new leader of the BJP legislature party on Tuesday following Yediyurappa's resignation, took oath as the Chief Minister on Wednesday.
Expanding the Ministry will be the first big challenge before the new Chief Minister as he will have to navigate through the cabinet formation exercise by maintaining a balance between factions within the ruling BJP.
There are several aspirants among the party old guard and youngsters. There are also legislators who had joined the BJP after quitting Congress-JD(S) coalition in 2019.
