New Delhi:

BJP leader Navneet Rana, a day after she was booked for violating the poll code, challenged AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi to stop her when she comes to Hyderabad. Her remarks came as a response to Mr Owaisi saying that his younger brother Akbaruddin is a ‘canon’ that they are keeping under control.

Ms Rana said that devotees are now roaming across every street in India and they keep such cannons outside their house for decoration.

“Owaisi in a speech said that he has kept his brother under control and he is a cannon. We keep such cannons outside our house for decoration. Ram bhakts and Modi ji’s lions are roaming every street across India now. I am coming to Hyderabad, I would like to see who stops me,” Ms Rana said in a video on X.

मुर्गी और मुर्गी का बच्चा कब तक खैर मनाएंगे @asadowaisi@AkbarOwaisi_MIMpic.twitter.com/iwqX6frGn7

— Navnit Ravi Rana (Modi Ka Parivar) (@navneetravirana) May 10, 2024

Earlier, Ms Rana had attacked Mr Owaisi and his brother by saying that if police were removed from duty for “15 seconds, the brothers would not know from where they came and where they went”.

The comments drew flak from Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Asaduddin Owaisi.

And in other comments also seen as being in poor taste, she declared Madhavi Latha would “definitely stop Hyderabad from turning into Pakistan” and claimed that anyone voting for either the Congress or the AIMIM would simply be voting in favour of Pakistan.

Ms Rana, a former independent MP from Maharashtra’s Amravati, was recently charged with violation of the poll code for saying that “a vote to Congress is a vote for Pakistan”.

Amravati:

Defending her “15-second” remark made against AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and his brother Akbaruddin Owaisi, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Navneet Rana on Thursday said that that she is not afraid of anyone and will continue giving replies to those “working for Pakistan”.

Earlier, while responding to the AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi’s statement that they would take them all of ’15 minutes’ to balance out the “Hindu-Muslim ratio” in the country, Navneet, had hit back at the Owaisi brothers, saying “it would take us 15 seconds if the police were removed or made to stand down”.

“I always stand by my statement. I am not afraid of anyone. We are committed to giving a reply to those who are working for Pakistan in India. If they will take 15 minutes, we will take 15 seconds,” Navneet Rana said.

Rana was heard saying in a video clip she posted on her X handle, tagging the Owaisi brothers, “The younger brother says, ‘Remove the police for 15 minutes so that we can show them what we can do’. I want to tell the younger brother (Akbaruddin) that it might take you 15 minutes, but it will only take us 15 seconds. It will take us all of 15 seconds if we come to the forefront.”

Reacting to BJP leader Navneet Rana’s “15-second lagenge” remark, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give her one hour instead of 15 seconds and asserted they are not “scared” of the BJP leader.

“I tell Modi ji – give her 15 seconds. What will you do? Give her 15 seconds, give her 1 hour. We, too, want to see if you have any humanity left in you. Who is scared? We are ready…If someone is making an open call for it, then so be it. PM is yours; RSS is yours; everything is yours. Do it. Who is stopping you? Tell us where we have to come, we will be there. Do it,” Owaisi told reporters on Thursday.

At a meeting in 2013, Akbaruddin warned “100 crore Hindus” that his community would show what it could do if the police were withdrawn for ’15 minutes’.

After fellow party member Navneet Rana’s ’15 seconds lagenge’ remark stoked controversy, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Madhavi Latha on Thursday said that the former wanted to convey to the citizens that it will only take 15 seconds to cast their vote, which will help the nation move towards ‘Viksit Bharat’.

Speaking to ANI, BJP’s Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat candidate, Madhavi Latha, said, “We do not threaten anyone. We do not say to remove the police force for 15 minutes. We just want to say that you should take 15 seconds instead of 15 minutes and cast your vote. Do not go to attend provocative speeches. If you want to move towards ‘Viksit Bharat’. Go and cast your vote. This is what she (Navneet Rana) meant.”

Rana further targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying that when Congress used to work on the directions of Pakistan when they were in power.

“Everyone knows that Rahul Gandhi is receiving messages of love from Pakistan. As long as the Congress was in power, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress worked on the directions of Pakistan. I am honest towards the soil of India. Coming from the kingdom of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, when we enter the field, we do not need to think about how to take out the sword,” she said.

Earlier this month, former Pakistan Minister Fawad Chaudhry praised Rahul Gandhi saying that he has a socialist ideology inside him.

“Rahul Gandhi like his great Grandfather Jawaharlal has a socialist in him, problems of India and Pak are so same even after 75 years of partition, Rahul sahib in his last night speech said 30 or 50 families Owns 70 per cent of India wealth so is in Pakistan where only a business club called Pak Buisness Council and few real estate Seth’s own 75% of Pak wealth.. fair distribution of wealth is the biggest challenge of capitalism,” Fawad Chaudhry posted on X.

Voting for all 17 seats in Telangana will take place on May 13 in the fourth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

New Delhi:

A provocative statement 11 years ago by AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi – the infamous “if police are removed for 15 minutes…” remark seen as a threat to Hindus – has spawned an equally shocking “… it will take us only 15 seconds” reply by BJP leader Navneet Rana, while campaigning for Madhavi Latha, the party’s candidate for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha dominated by Mr Owaisi’s brother, Asaduddin Owaisi.

Ms Rana, a former independent MP from Maharashtra’s Amravati, referred to the 2013 swipe by Akbaruddin Owaisi, and said, “The younger brother said, ‘Remove police for 15 minutes so we can show what we can do’. I want to tell him, ‘It might take you 15 minutes… but it will only take us 15 seconds… “

And in other comments also seen as being in poor taste, she declared Madhavi Latha will “definitely stop Hyderabad from turning into Pakistan” and claimed that anyone voting for either the Congress or the AIMIM would simply be voting in favour of Pakistan.

15 सेकंद लगेगा @AkbarOwaisi_MIM@asadowaisipic.twitter.com/TfEmWhvArX

— Navnit Ravi Rana (Modi Ka Parivar) (@navneetravirana) May 8, 2024

“If you vote for AIMIM and Congress, it goes directly to Pakistan. The kind of ‘AIMIM prem (love)’ and ‘Rahul prem’ Pakistan is showing… Just like Congress that governed country on signals from Pak… the same Pak is today saying they ‘love Congress and AIMIM’.”

A 39-second video clip of the rant by Ms Rana was posted on her X (formerly Twitter) account, and the Owaisi brothers were tagged in the post. The older Owaisi, never one to back down from a fight, responded immediately and dared Ms Rana to follow through.

READ | Asaduddin Owaisi’s “Muslims Use Condoms Most” Reply To PM’s Jab

“I’m telling (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji… give her the 15 seconds. What will she do? Give her the 15 seconds… give her an hour even. We too want to see what they will do. Is there any humanity left in them? Who is scared? We are ready… if someone is making an open call (like this) then so be it. Do it. Who is stopping you?” Mr Owaisi told reporters.

#WATCH | Hyderabad, Telangana: On BJP leader Navnit Ravi Rana’s “15 seconds lagenge” remark in Hyderabad, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi says, “I tell Modi ji – give her 15 seconds. What will you do?…Give her 15 seconds, give her 1 hour. We too want to see if you have any… pic.twitter.com/e1uD3M6nhl

— ANI (@ANI) May 9, 2024

The face-off between Ms Rana (and Ms Latha) and Asaduddin Owaisi underlines the high-tension fight for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat, which has been held by the AIMIM leader since 2004, and was the bastion of his father, Salahuddin Owaisi from 1984.

The BJP has never won here; in 2019 the party fielded Bhagavanth Rao, who got less than 236,000 votes while Mr Owaisi polled over half a million and a 64 per cent of vote share.

Mr Owaisi has already had one ugly confrontation with his rival for this election.

READ | “Where Did Mosque Come From?”: BJP Candidate On “Imaginary Arrow” Row

Last month, during a Ram Navami rally in Hyderabad, the BJP’s Madhavi Latha pretended to draw and fire an arrow while near a mosque. The gesture was widely condemned, with Mr Owaisi calling it “vulgar, obscene, and provocative”.

Ms Latha later posted a statement on X and professed to apologise, saying, “If anyone’s feelings are hurt”. However, she also claimed the video circulated is “incomplete”. She also spoke to news agency PTI, claiming a “conspiracy against us (the BJP) … because we work well with both Hindu and Muslim brothers” and demanded “where did the mosque come from?”

READ | “People Of Hyderabad Not Cattle”: Owaisi On PM’s “Lease” Remark

The Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat has seven Assembly segments, of which six are held by the AIMIM.

Voting takes place on May 13, with the other 16 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana.

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Amravati:

Navneet Rana, an incumbent MP from Amravati, joined the BJP in Nagpur late on Wednesday night in the presence of the party’s state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule.

She joined the BJP at the Bawankule’s residence in Nagpur along with her supporters and in the presence of senior party leaders from Amravati, Nagpur, Wardha and other places. Her husband Ravi Rana, an MLA, was also present when she joined the BJP.

The BJP’s Central Election Committee on Wednesday announced her name as the party’s candidate for the Amravati seat. Mr Bawankule said she would file her election nomination on April 4.

Addressing a press conference around midnight at Bawankule’s residence, Navneet Rana said that she followed the development path of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for the last five years as a supporter of the NDA.

Ms Rana expressed happiness over joining the BJP and said that she would ensure that the Amravati parliamentary constituency would be among the 400 seats that the party would win in the general elections.

Mr Bawankule said that Navneet Rana joined the BJP to support the Viksit Bharat vision of PM Modi. He also slammed Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray for sending Navneet Rana to jail during his tenure as chief minister of Maharashtra over the issue of chanting Hanuman Chalisa.

Mr Rana first contested from Amravati on an NCP ticket in 2014 and was defeated by Shiv Sena’s Anandrao Adsul. In 2019, she contested the seat as an Independent supported by NCP and defeated Adsul.

However, after 2019, Rana started supporting the BJP.

Last month, The Supreme Court reserved its verdict on Navneet Rana’s plea challenging the Bombay High Court verdict cancelling her caste certificate. On June 8, 2021, the high court said the ‘Mochi’ caste certificate was obtained fraudulently using fabricated documents. It had also imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on the Amravati MP.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)