Apart from the usual barbs exchanged by political parties over civic development, the campaign for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency has seen candidates invoking each other’s parents, making provocative utterances (allegedly) during door-to-door canvassing, and attacking each other over controversial gestures near places of worship. The campaign is set to heat up further as the polling date of May 13 draws near.
One incident that courted significant controversy was on the day of Ram Navami when Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Kompella Madhavi Latha mimicked shooting an arrow from a bow near a covered up place of worship. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) latched onto the incident, and criticised the move. Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi claimed that the incident exposed the BJP’s mentality of promoting hatred. However, Ms. Latha clarified to sections of the media that she was gesturing the use of ‘Ram Baan’, and was not pointing the imaginary arrow at any place of worship. The incident has become a key talking point in public meetings.
The BJP too sought to hold to account Mr. Owaisi who, during a paidal daura in Nawab Saheb Kunta, a neighbourhood in the Bahadurpura Assembly segment, greeted some butchers at an abattoir, and purportedly said, “Kaat-te raho.” Ms. Latha complained to the Chief Electoral Officer, alleging that the incident was tantamount to encouraging people to consume beef.
