In a telling remark, MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said, “Kiran Kumar Reddy was my friend and Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is my friend,” as he announced that his party was withdrawing support to the Congress at the Centre and in the state on Monday.
The Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen has an MP (Asaduddin Owasi), seven MLAs and two MLCs.
The announcement was made after the MIM’s politburo meeting at Darussalam, the party headquarters. Mr Owaisi accused the Kiran government of working in tandem with Sangh Parivar outfits to set an anti-Muslim agenda. The government was following the agenda of P.V. Narasimha Rao, he alleged.
Referring to the row over the Bhagyalakshmi temple abutting Charminar, Owaisi alleged the government had failed to honour the High Court order that status quo be maintained at the site.
Tensions had been growing between the two parties for some time.
The MIM was angry over curbs on fee reimbursement for poor Muslim students, and the government’s indecision on the lease on the city’s Mahavir Hospital — the Darussalam Education Trust wants to set up a research institute there.
“Our withdrawal of support to the Congress government is final and irrevocable. We are informing the Governor and the President,” he declared.