Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi responded strongly to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's recent comment suggesting that Owaisi is a friend of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speaking at a gathering in Hyderabad, Owaisi remarked that Rahul Gandhi has two loves in his life – "one is Italy because his mother is from there, and the second is Modi because he gives him power."

Owaisi also questioned why the people of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh did not consider themselves friends of Rahul Gandhi but instead elected BJP's Smriti Irani. This remark was a reference to Rahul's defeat to Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in the Amethi constituency, where he was later elected as an MP from Wayanad in Kerala. The AIMIM leader humorously speculated whether Rahul's defeat was the Congress party's "hatheli" (palm of hand) or someone else's "paheli" (riddle), alluding to the BJP.

"I appeal to you, Rahul Gandhi, please don't be single anymore, since you are 50 years old now," Owaisi added, advising Rahul not to engage in such kind of banter anymore as it is no longer the "right age." Owaisi's response came after Rahul, during public meetings in Telangana, criticized the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government as corrupt and claimed that the Congress, BJP, and AIMIM are all on the same side. "Modi ji has two friends, one is Owaisi and the other is KCR," Rahul said at the gathering. "KCR (BRS supremo and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao) wants Modi to be PM, and Modi wants KCR to be CM," he added.

Rahul stated that there are 24 cases against him, including the cancellation and later reinstatement of his Lok Sabha membership, while no action has been taken against KCR by the CBI, ED, or Income Tax Department. Rahul Gandhi asserted that the Congress party aims to first defeat BRS in Telangana and then the PM Modi-led BJP government at the Centre, claiming that the grand old party would win the forthcoming Telangana assembly elections with an overwhelming majority. Telangana is set to vote on November 30 to elect members to its 119-member state assembly, with results announced on December 3, alongside Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

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