Credit; DH Photo
The stage is set for an interesting electoral battle in Hyderabad. BJP has picked a rookie, a social worker and a businesswoman, Kompella Madhavi Latha to take on AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi. She recently stoked controversy by allegedly aiming an ‘arrow’ at a mosque in the old city. Meanwhile, the seasoned Owaisis has been winning the Hyderabad segment since 1984. In an interview with DH’s S N V Sudhir, Madhavi Latha claims Owaisi is cornered and she is moved by the sufferings of the people of Hyderabad.
What is the response to your campaigns in the old city?
The response has been fantastic. People are very affectionate. But, they are facing so many problems. I don’t know how they overcome the everyday challenges. I think they don’t deserve to live like this.
Hyderabad Lok Sabha is Owaisis’ bastion. No other party had won here in the last four decades. Are you nervous?
Damn, I don’t know. I don’t care what kind of nervousness. I don’t care. I’m going to face him by exposing the truth. The truth of backwardness. The truth of injustice. The truth of hatred speeches that he constantly indulges in.
So what is your plan for Hyderabad?
First, we have to educate people about the fear factor they live in. So, I’m telling them that they don’t have to worry. This time we have come to help them, support them, pull them out of this dirt and the kind of backwardness that they are in. Look at the roads, look at the garbage, look at the overflowing drainage, look at those open nalas. There are no schools, no properly organised way of life here. If somebody is living like this in today’s era, then we are doing injustice to them.
AIMIM leaders, especially Asaduddin Owaisi, have been accusing you of polarising this area on the lines of religion, etc. Your response?
Somebody incapable of development would only have those things to talk about, right? If somebody is capable of talking about development, then they don’t talk about all these things. Today, he is cornered. He is cornered because somebody has come all the way to show the real truth. So only a week and a failure would only talk like that.
Is there resentment among BJP ranks in Hyderabad about your candidature?
That is how they (AIMIM) want to spread rumors hoping that I become weak, but the more rumors they spread, the stronger I will become.
What is your take on the ‘arrow’ controversy?
Doesn’t it look like a child game? So foolish. So immature. There wasn’t a mosque where I was even doing this. They panned the camera. And he wants to talk about all this. With the way he is now going forward, it looks like he’s already lost it. Because a person with unstable mind can behave like this.