'Asaduddin Should Contest From Non-Muslim Seat': Congress's Sandeep Dikshit

Congress's Sandeep Dixit has hit back challenging Owaisi to fight elections from any non-Muslim seat as a response to AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi targeting Congress, specifically Rahul Gandhi challenging him to contest elections from Hyderabad.

In a video shared by ANI, Congress leader Sandeep Dixit can be heard saying, "You challenge someone else. Surveys show Rahul Gandhi's popularity is at 28-30 percent. You can fight from any non-Muslim seat..."

Sandeep Dikshit also that while Owaisi is challenging someone else, he himself is a leader who claims to be one of the entire country's but, is just restricted to Hyderabad consitituency especially holding on to a religious sect's votes.

Asaduddin Owaisi, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief challenged Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to contest election from Hyderabad and not Wayanad on 24th September for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections due in March 2024.

Reportedly, Owaisi also said that Babri Masjid was demolished under Indian National Congress's (INC) regime.

"I am challenging your leader (Rahul Gandhi) to contest elections from Hyderabad and not Wayanad. You keep giving big statements, come to the ground and fight against me. People from Congress will say a lot of things, but I am ready...Babri Masjid and Secretariat's mosque were demolished under the Congress regime...", said Owaisi as quoted by ANI.

Congress and AIMIM are at each others' throats in Telangana as both the parties wish to make a significant mark in the upcoming assembly elections in the state slated to be held later this year.

As per media reports, earlier this month, Rahul Gandhi, while at his address at the Vijayabheri Sabha in Telangana's Tukkuguda, said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), and AIMIM were collaborating in Telangana. "In Telangana, the Congress party is not competing against BRS alone but against the combined forces of BRS, BJP, and AIMIM. Though they portray themselves as distinct parties, they are working together in unison," Rahul Gandhi said.