Hyderabad: In yet another controversial remark, Goshamahal MLA T Raja Singh challenged All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Akbaruddin Owaisi to give his followers just “five minutes” so that they could show their might.
Singh made the remarks during a public meeting held in Warangal on the occasion of Chhatrapati Shivaji’s birth anniversary on Thursday, February 19, 2026.
The expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader’s statement was apparently directed at Akbaruddin Owaisi for his alleged hate speech in 2012 at two public meetings in Nirmal and Nizamabad, for which two cases were filed against him.
Owasi had allegedly said that if the police were kept off-duty for 15 minutes, one community could wipe out the members of another community. The AIMIM leader was acquitted in the case due to lack of evidence and after being given the benefit of doubt in 2022.
Singh had been raising Akbaruddin Owaisi’s alleged remarks several times in the past, countering them in a similar tone and intent. On Thursday, he went a step ahead and said that his followers didn’t need 15 minutes, but “just five minutes” to show their might.
He also taunted Owaisi by saying that even the latter’s forefathers couldn’t wipe out the people of one community, and that even he couldn’t do anything, even if he were given 15 years, let alone 15 minutes.
He also dared Owaisi to pick the time and place for a show of strength, and that he was ready to come anywhere, even without a gun or a sword.
BJP MLA criticises Akbaruddin for ‘Rao’ or ‘Reddy’ CM remarks
In another strong rebuke to Akbaruddin Owaisi, BJP MLA P Rakesh Reddy criticised the former for saying that whether it was a “Reddy” or a “Rao” chief minister. they all had to come to the AIMIM if they wanted to get work done, or even to become the CM.
Owaisi, while speaking at a public meeting held in Karimnagar as part of AIMIM’s campaign for the Karimnagar municipal elections, had made these statements. He had also said that the AIMIM was the only party that could influence the politics in Telangana, and that it was difficult to play politics without the Owaisis here.
He also reportedly said that any chief minister would have to come to the Owaisis seeking help, and it has never been the other way round.
Rakesh Reddy said that because of politics, people got divided in the name of caste and this has given lenience to people like Owaisi to make such comments. Reddy cautioned Owaisi that, of late, Hindus were getting united by drawing inspiration from Chhatrapati Shivaji and were setting aside caste differences.
Also claiming that Owaisi had said that Hindus were like snakes, Reddy wondered if it were true, would the population of minorities have gone from 3 crore to 20 crore in the country.
Reddy said that it was people like the Owaisis who were the real snakes attacking the minorities in Bangladesh and Pakistan.
