Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy refuted the charge by Akbaruddin Owaisi ( MIM) that he and his brother Asaduddin Owaisi, MP, had been arrested and jailed out of “vendetta” after the MIM broke ties with Congress. There was a spat between Mr. Reddy and Mr. Akabruddin Owaisi in the Assembly on Saturday after the MIM floor leader alleged that a case registered against his brother in Sangareddy 12 years ago was revived because his party had severed links with Congress. He himself was arrested at Adilabad as a Mumbai-based IT firm “hired by some elements in the State for a huge sum”, provided a “wrong version” on social media and channels, of what had spoken at that place.
Mr. Akabaruddin said that although Muslims in the country were discriminated against, he would not disown it because “this is my country”. He remarked without naming anyone that “two Reddy brothers” too would also meet the similar fate after the elections. Disagreeing with Mastan Vali (Congress), he said the budget allocation for Muslims in the 2013-14 budget did not go up as claimed, as it was merely 0.61 per cent compared to its overall size as against 0.5 during Telugu Desam regime.
He contended that the Chief Minister was not secular, a contrast to the Congress approach. Mr. Reddy said the arrests and jailing Mr. Akbaruddin brothers were done on court orders. Law took its course. He bore no grudge against any one, much less against the Owaisis, he said, citing how he promised a MIM delegation earlier in the day to help in a case.
