Telangana Assembly Elections: Asaduddin Owaisi says Congress tried to bribe him

Nirmal: The AIMIM national president Asaduddin Owaisi has alleged that local Congress candidate Aleti Maheshwar Reddy had offered Rs 25 lakh if he does not attend the party meeting in Nirmal.

Mr Owaisi was speaking at a party meeting late on Monday night in Nirmal town.

Responding to Mr Owaisi’s allegations, DCC president and Nirmal Congress candidate Mr Maheshwar Reddy said he had never met Mr Owaisi and refuted the allegation made by him.

He challenged Mr Owaisi to produce the audio tape to prove his allegation. He said he would quit politics and withdraw from the election if Mr Owaisi can prove that he offered him Rs 25 lakh.

“I don’t think Asadduddin Owaisi is worth Rs 25 lakh being a national president of the party and MP and having crores of rupees, properties and assets, including medical and engineering colleges,” Nirmal Congress candidate Mr Maheshwar Reddy said.

However, an audio clip of a conversation between two persons is in circulation in which one person claiming to be a Congress leader is speaking to an MIM local leader and discussing the party meeting and offering Rs 25 lakh to stop the MIM’s top leader from coming to Nirmal to attend the meeting and taking Mr Maheshwar Reddy’s name.

The MIM is contesting eight seats -- all in Hyderabad -- while the TRS is going alone in the polls to the 119-member assembly. The Congress heading a 'grand alliance' of TDP, CPI and TJS has announced candidates for 94 segments.