Muslims of the State voted for both the Congress which came to power and the BRS party that became main Opposition party but none of them made a Muslim as their party MLA, said MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi on Saturday.
Assuring the House that his party would play the role of a constructive Opposition, he made it clear that he would not hesitate to point out the omissions or commissions of the ruling party. Raising several issues over which the MIM party wanted the new Congress government to take appropriate decisions, Mr. Akbaruddin Owaisi said not mentioning about Urdu in Congress manifesto was one of them.
Hoping that Congress government would not neglect Old City, he wanted it to be developed on par with new city of Hyderabad. He said the Charminar pedestrianisation project, which was being under execution for past several years, would be completed at least now. He wanted the government to invite a delegation of Muslims to discuss various issues related to their welfare and constitute Madarsa Board.
He urged the government to ‘table the report of the inquiry into the exchange of fire resulting in the killing of five innocent Muslims prisoners at Alair’ while they were being brought from Warangal to Hyderabad for attending the court. He pointed out that the ‘widening of roads in Old City’ had not happened. “The ₹20 crore announced by BRS government for development of Lal Darwaza temple was not released,” the MIM MLA said.
He wanted the new government to bring out separate Acts for sub-plans for the welfare of minorities and the backward classes. Mr. Akbaruddin Owaisi wanted the government to make reality check over the promises Congress party had made on enhancing percentage of reservations to various sections like minorities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to ensure it did not cross the limit fixed by the Supreme Court.
Citing the various promises, including the six guarantees of Congress government, he said their implementation would require over ₹two lakh crore. How was the government going to pool up such massive funds, he asked. As he read out the estimated funds required for the main schemes, the BRS members tapped the tables suggesting that it would be a tough task.
Referring to the free travel for women in TSRTC buses, the MIM MLA read out precarious financial status of TSRTC. Citing papers issued by the government, he said a crucial page in the document was missing. Thinking that he was pointing out a mistake of Congress government, the BRS MLAs again tapped the tables.
“Sir, these papers were issued while you were running the government ” said Mr. Owaisi looking at BRS MLA K.T. Rama Rao leaving him and his party MLAs embarrassed while Treasury benches burst into laughter.