Hyderabad, Nov 25 (IANS): Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) leader Akbaruddin Owaisi challenged the Telangana government to demolish samadhis of former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and former (undivided) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao and remove other encroachments on the Hussain Sagar lake in Hyderabad.
Addressing a public meeting in connection with Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections, he said that the government is demolishing houses of poor built on lakes but ignoring the encroachments on Hussain Sagar in the heart of the city.
Akbaruddin Owaisi, who is MIM leader in Telangana Assembly, said the area of Hussain Sagar shrunk from 4,700 acres to less than 700 acres.
"The Necklace Road has come up on Hussain Sagar. Samadhis of Narasimha Rao and N.T. Rama Rao and Lumbini Park have been built on lake. I am challenging the government to demolish samadhis. Do you have guts to do this?" he asked.
He also alleged that it is the government which encroached on the Tank Bund and built even GHMC office on the banks of the lake.
Akbaruddin, who is younger brother of MIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, said successive governments failed to protect lakes and tanks and the poor who purchased the land wherever it was available could not be faulted for this.
Referring to the recent floods in the city, he said the natural flow of water into Musi River was disrupted by developing the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and taking up other constructions.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Working President K.T. Rama Rao has condemned Akbaruddin Owaisi's remarks on samadhis of Narasimha Rao and N.T. Rama Rao. He tweeted that MIM leader's remarks about the two late leaders are inappropriate.
The TRS leader, who is also the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister, said both Narasimha Rao and NTR served the people and worked to for the self-respect of Telugu people.
BJP's Telangana unit President Bandi Sanjay Kumar also reacted sharply to Akbaruddin Owaisi's comments, daring the MIM leader to demolish the samadhis. "Within two hours of the demolition of samadhis, BJP workers will pull down Darussalam (MIM headquarters)," he said.