Hyderabad: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that the BJP wanted to liberate Hyderabad from the 'Nawab Nizam' culture and transform it into a modern city.
Addressing a news conference at the end of his day-long visit to campaign for Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections slated to be held on December 1, he said that the BJP also wanted to ensure Telangana and Hyderabad’s transition from "dynasty to democracy".
The BJP leader, who conducted a roadshow and visited the Bhagyalakshmi temple, which is next to the iconic Charminar, slammed both the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) for their penchant for "family politics".
"Be it Owaisi's party or TRS, I want to ask whether in such a large state as Telangana you don't have anybody outside your family. Is there nobody outside your family who is talented?" he said.
Shah also said that the BJP wanted Hyderabad to switch from corruption to transparency and from appeasement to equal opportunities.
"I want to assure a large section of people in Hyderabad, who feel insulted, that nobody will dare to treat you as a second-class citizen," he said.
He said that it was because of Sardar Patel that Telangana, Marathwada and Hyderabad became part of India. However, there were some people who ran a campaign, seeking to merge these with Pakistan.
"Owaisi should respond as to who talked of merging Telangana with Pakistan," he remarked when asked to comment on MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi's allegation that the BJP was divisive.
Responding to a Hyderabad MP's question what Shah had done about Rohingyas, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, who were illegally staying in Hyderabad, the Union Home Minister asked him to give it in writing seeking their deportation.
"When we take action, they raise a hue and cry. Didn't you see in Parliament? Let them give in writing that Rohingyas and Bangladeshis be deported. Mere rhetoric in elections will not work,’’ he said
Asserting that the BJP has no problem with TRS aligning with the MIM, Shah dared Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to openly have a seat-sharing pact. "In a democracy, any party can tie up with anyone. But why this secret understanding? Why don't you have the courage to openly say that you have an electoral understanding with the MIM?"
Claiming that the BJP has become the main opposition in Telangana, Shah said that in the next Assembly elections it would definitely form the government.
He remarked that KCR was also "helping the BJP in this task by the manner in which he is running the government".
He found fault with TRS for calling GHMC polls a 'gully election'.
On his visit to Bhagyalakshmi temple earlier in the day, Shah said he went there out of personal devotion and there was no need to give it any other meaning.
Asked about KCR's plans to forge an all-India alliance against the BJP, Shah remarked that he had been trying in the past too. "He tried this in 2019 but his seats diminished by half. Mamata Banerjee also tried. Her seats too were reduced by half."
