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'Congress has found a successor to PV Narasimha Rao'
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, an influential political party in Andhra Pradesh, pulled the rug from under the feet of the ruling Congress state government on Monday after terming it "communal, a stooge of Sangh Parivar and anti-people".
The party, which has seven members in the state assembly, two in the legislative council and one in the Lok Sabha, has also decided to discontinue its support to the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre.
The party has already written a letter to state Governor E S L Narasimhan and President Pranab Mukherjee, informing them of its decision to withdraw support.
MIM president and member of Lok Sabha from Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisi also went hammer and tongs against Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy.
"He has stooped to the level of licking the boot of the Sangh Parivar. He is working to strengthen the BJP in Hyderabad and surrounding areas," he alleged.
"Congress has found a rightful successor to PV Narasimha Rao after so many years," Owaisi said tongue-in-cheek, adding that by allowing the extension of a temple at the Charminar Monument in violation of a ruling by the Andhra Pradesh high court, the state Congress government had revived the memories of December 6, 1992 when the Congress government led by Rao had watched silently while members of the Sangh Parivar brought down the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
Reportage: Mohammed Siddique in Hyderabad
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'Congress govt a stooge of Sangh Parivar'
The decision to end its 14-year-long friendly relationship with the Congress was taken at an emergency meeting of the party's executive council and the advisory council at its headquarters at Daurssalam, Hyderabad.
The dramatic development unfolded in the backdrop of Sunday's incident -- in which a new shed was laid over the disputed temple adjacent to the historic monument of Charminar -- under heavy security provided by the police and supervised by the civic administration.
The MIM was also incensed over the curfew-like restrictions imposed in the old city, where roads were closed with barbed wire fencing and the party's MLAs were arrested when they tried to oppose the construction work on the temple.
The MIM has strongly opposed the construction on the ground that it was a violation of the high court's orders as well as the laws protecting the national monument.
At the MIM headquarters, thousands of its workers shouted slogans against the chief minister and Congress party.
The relationship between the MIM and the Congress in the state had become strained over the last two years after a series of communal riots rocked the state.
Owaisi unleashed a torrent of grievances against the Congress government, saying the government and the police had connived with the Sangh Parivar and the BJP to target and victimise the Muslim minority community since the death of then chief minister YS Rajashekhar Reddy in 2009.
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'Police booked cases against Muslims, tortured them'
Listing out the incidents, Owaisi said Hyderabad and other places in the state witnessed a series of communal riots in which the minority community was systematically targeted. Instead of coming to the rescue of Muslims, the government and the police also targeted them with indiscriminate arrests and false cases, he said.
He listed the riots during Hanuman Jayanti in Hyderabad in 2010 when K Rosaiah was the chief minister, wide-spread riots in Adoni town of Kurnool district on September 5, 2011 during Ganeshostsav procession, in Karimnagar in March-April 2011, in Tandur in February 2011 and September 2012, Miryalagda and Siddipet in 2011.
"In all these incidents, Muslims and their properties were targeted by Sangh Parivar activists but the police booked cases against Muslims, arrested and tortured them", he said.
Owaisi alleged that in the riots in Sangareddy town of Medak district in March this year, the local Congress legislator colluded with the Sangh Parivar and shops and properties of Muslims were burnt in the presence of the police.
"After each of those incidents, we met the chief minister and urged him to check the violence and victimisation of Muslims, but he never took any action," he said.
On the incident at Charminar, he said that every year, the illegal structure there was expanded with the active connivance of the state government, the city police and the Archaeological Survey of India. He said the MIM had approached the high court for the protection of the monument as it was part of the national heritage.
"But again the administration and ASI colluded with the Sangh Parivar to allow the extension of the temple," he said.
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'Jagan is my friend. Kiran Kumar Reddy was my friend'
Owaisi thanked UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi for the cooperation she had extended till now but said that he was compelled to withdraw support at the Centre because of the "communal and inefficient" chief minister in the state.
"Now our top priority is to pull down this government. I will tour the state and expose the communal and anti-people face of this government," he said.
When asked whether he will team up with YSR Congress headed by Jagan Mohan Reddy, Owaisi said that it was a premature question.
"We will see when the next elections approach; there are many parties in the state," he said.
Significantly, Owaisi added, "Jagan is my friend. Kiran Kumar Reddy was my friend".
Though there is no immediate threat of the collapse of the Congress government, the withdrawal of support by MIM will put it in a very precarious situation. In the assembly with 294 members, Congress has only 152 MLAs and it needs at least 147 to survive.
If a few more members desert the Congress to join hands with Jagan Mohan Reddy, the state government's fall will be imminent.
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