"We should always take our opponent seriously": AIMIM chief Owaisi after casting his vote in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen candidate from Hyderabad, Asaduddin Owaisi, cast his vote at a polling booth in Hyderabad and said that every opponent in the elections should be taken "seriously."
After casting the vote, the AIMIM chief asked the people to take every election seriously, adding that the party would win the elections from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency.
"Every election cannot be the same as it was 5 years ago. The challenges are different, and the issues are different. This is a very important, historic parliamentary election in our country. People have a different understanding of what they want for the country. Elections should always be taken seriously, whether it is a parliamentary election or a Panchayat election. An election is an election. We should always take our opponent seriously. We are confident that we will win elections with the blessings of the people," Owaisi told reporters.
He further gave a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP and said that people do not agree with the BJP's ideology or with the statement that PM Modi has made for the minority community.
"The message (to PM Modi) would be that people do not agree with the BJP's ideology and people do not agree with the statements that PM Modi has given for on minority community. Please understand what PM Modi has done with Agniveer, he is now going to go ahead and do the same if he comes back to power with BSF, CRPF, RPF and SSP. Four years of service and you are out. People must understand that it will come out very soon," he added.
Asaduddin Owaisi has been the elected representative from Hyderabad since 2004. He was previously elected as an MLA twice in the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh. Owaisi faces BJP leader Madhavi Latha and BRS' Gaddam Srinivas Yadav.
Voting for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections in 96 Parliamentary Constituencies across nine states and one Union Territory got underway on Monday at 7:00 am.
Polling for all 175 seats of the State Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh and 28 seats of the State Legislative Assembly of Odisha also started simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.
Of the 96 Lok Sabha seats, 25 are from Andhra Pradesh, 17 from Telangana, 13 from Uttar Pradesh, 11 from Maharashtra, eight each from Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, five from Bihar, four each from Jharkhand and Odisha, and one from Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the poll body, a total of 4,264 nominations were filed for 96 parliamentary constituencies across.
Of the 96 Lok Sabha seats, 25 are from Andhra Pradesh, 17 from Telangana, 13 from Uttar Pradesh, 11 from Maharashtra, eight each from Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, five from Bihar, four each from Jharkhand and Odisha and one from Jammu and Kashmir.
The fourth phase is witnessing key contests in various constituencies. Leaders such as AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, TMC leader Mahua Moitra, BJP leader Giriraj Singh, JDU's Rajiv Ranjan Singh (Lalan Singh), TMC leaders Shatrughan Sinha and Yusuf Pathan.
BJP leaders Arjun Munda and Madhavi Latha, and Andhra Pradesh Congress Chief YS Sharmila are also looking for electoral success.
So far, till phase 3 of the Lok Sabha polls, polling has concluded smoothly and peacefully in 283 Lok Sabha seats.