All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi challenged Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah to contest from Hyderabad and see how Telangana “defeats” his strategy.

In a tweet posted on Saturday, the AIMIM chief reacted to Shah’s accusation against his party and his declaration that the BJP will contest on all seats in the upcoming Telangana elections.

“Welcome, people of Hyderabad & Telangana will defeat your strategy I request @AmitShah to contest from Hyderabad and inshallah MIM will win & BJP will not be able to retain 5 Assembly seats inshallah.What is strategy to control Oil prices ,Employment for Youth,$ & ₹ BJP has NO Ans,” he said.

Welcome,people of Hyderabad & Telangana will defeat your strategy I request @AmitShah to contest from Hyderabad and inshallah MIM will win & BJP will not be able to retain 5 Assembly seats inshallah.What is strategy to control Oil prices ,Employment for Youth,$ &₹ BJP has NO Ans

— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) September 15, 2018

Earlier today, Shah, who is in Hyderabad attacked the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) of playing vote-bank politics and hurting “Telugu pride” by cancelling Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations which are held on 17 September.

“People speaking about Telugu pride closed down the Hyderabad Liberation celebrations,” said Shah at a press conference in Hyderabad.

“They did that because of AIMIM, vote bank politics and Owaisi. And it cannot be a bigger attack on Telugu pride,” he said.

“The people of Telanagna have to decide whether they want to hand the state into the hands of Razakars,” Shah said referring to the AIMIM’s history.

Referring to the TRS government’s recommendation for 12 per cent reservation for minority communities, Shah asked, “Is it not appeasement politics to propose 12 per cent reservation for minority?”

“Our constitution does not allow reservations in the name of religion. They have sent this proposal to appease vote bank politics,” he added.

The BJP chief announced that his party will contest on all seats in Telangana in the upcoming elections and expressed confidence that it will emerge as a strong and decisive force in the state.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao dissolved the Assembly on 6 September and sought a fresh mandate earlier than the scheduled polls in April 2019.

Besides Telangana, elections are scheduled to be held in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram in December this year.