Not 15 Minutes, Give Us 15 Secs: BJP's Navneet Rana Rakes Up Akbaruddin Owaisi's 2013 Speech

Hyderabad: BJP's Amravati candidate for Lok Sabha elections, Navneet Rana tore into Owaisi brothers during campaign trail in their stronghold Hyderabad, saying ‘not 15 minutes, give us 15 seconds,’ responding to a provocative statement by AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi from 2013.  

Invoking Owaisi's statement in 2013 where the Muslim leader was seen warning "100 crore Hindus" that his community would show what it could do if the police were withdrawn for '15 minutes', Rana, who is seeking a fresh term in the Lok Sabha from Amravati, said, "it would take us 15 seconds if the police were removed or made to stand down".

"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," Rana could be heard saying in a video clip she shared on X. 

The BJP leader made the heated remarks while campaigning for BJP candidate from Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat, Madhavi Lata, who has been pitted against AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, a four-time Lok Sabha MP. Notably, for the first time BJP has fielded a female candidate from the Hyderabad segment. 

AIMIM Responds to Rana's Dare 

AIMIM leader Waris Pathan, responding to Rana's ‘give us 15 seconds’ remarks, sought police and Election Commission action against the latter.  

“Navnit Rana has understood that she is badly losing from Amravati this time...She is unable to take this jolt, this shock and that is why she is saying all this nonsense...What will you do if Police are removed for 15 seconds?...What is the Police administration doing? Why has no action been taken so far? What is the Election Commission doing?” 

"Are such statements allowed in elections? We would like the Election Commissioner to take cognisance of this statement and take strict action...BJP has come to realise that this time it is difficult for them to cross 200-250 seats," he added.