Akbaruddin Owaisi attends special meeting to discuss Old City problems

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy reached out to the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) on Tuesday, seeking support to his plans of executing two major projects in the Old City – turning the Musi riverfront into an employment and revenue-generating hub and completing the Metro Rail corridor besides extending the line to the Shamshabad airport.

Revanth Reddy was speaking at a high-level review meeting with a delegation of all newly elected MIM legislators headed by party senior leader and floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi. Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and ministers D. Sridhar Babu and D Rajanarasimha were present.

Incidentally, Revanth Reddy took the rare decision of appointing an IPS officer in Chief Minister’s Office. The 2003-batch inspector general-rank official, Shahnawaz Qasim, was appointed as secretary to the Chief Minister and sources said he would handle minorities welfare among other issues.

By appointing Qasim, the Chief Minister also conveyed his neutrality towards officials of Bihar origin, some of whom he had criticised



during the recent election campaign.

Revanth Reddy’s quick moves, appointing Akbaruddin Owaisi as pro-tem Speaker which forced the BJP to skip the swearing-in of their legislators, and holding a high level meeting with focus on Old City development, gained significance in the backdrop of the Congress losing the minority vote in the capital city and surrounding areas.

Extending an olive branch to the MIM is seen as part of his strategy to win over the minority vote in the city, sources said.

According to an official press release, Revanth Reddy stressed on the need for taking up activities that attract domestic as well as foreign tourists on a self-sustenance model. Commercial complexes, pathways, amusement parks and hawker zones should be developed under the public private partnership mode along the Musi riverfront, he said, adding that immediate steps should be taken to treat sewage and improve inflows into the river with the help of check dams so as to enable starting river cruises and launching water sports.