Congress offered money to cancel rally in support of TRS: Owaisi

TIL Desk/National/Telangana/ All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi has alleged that the Congress candidate in Nirmal constituency in poll-bound Telangana attempted to offer Rs 25 lakh as ‘party fund’ to cancel his rally in support of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti in the town, a charge denied by the Congress. Addressing a public meeting organised by his party at Nirmal on Monday night, Owaisi claimed that he had a recorded phone conversation of the Congress candidate A Maheshwar Reddys offer of Rs 25 lakh to a local AIMIM leader ‘party fund’ for cancelling his meeting.

Rejecting the charge, Reddy termed it ‘baseless and false’ and said he would quit politics if Owaisi proved it. AIMIM, which is on friendly terms with the TRS, has not fielded its candidate in Nirmal assembly seat, and organised the meeting in support of the ruling party candidate though there was no formal electoral tie-up between the two parties for the December 7 assembly elections.

The AIMIM is contesting eight seats– all in Hyderabad — while the TRS is going it alone in the polls to the 119-member assembly. The Congress heading a ‘grand alliance’ of TDP, CPI and TJS has announced candidates for 94 segments. “Now when this jalsa (meeting) is happening the Congress people tried to buy Asaduddin Owaisi. Maheshwar (Reddy) phoned a AIMIM leader telling him to stop Owaisi Saheb (from holding the meeting in Nirmal), (and) will give Rs 25 lakh party fund.