Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh):  All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday hit out at Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav for befooling Muslims in Uttar Pradesh by saying that he wants to save "real Hindutva".

Speaking to ANI, the AIMIM chief said, "Akhilesh Yadav said that it is necessary to save real 'Hindutva'. In the Legislative Assembly elections, he got one-sided Muslim votes...now he is saying that it is necessary to save real Hindutva. Why are you befooling Muslims in Uttar Pradesh?"

Referring to Akhilesh Yadav as a 'middleman', Owaisi said that though Yadav bagged the Muslim vote in the state, the BJP won the election. However, Owaisi said that in the current political circumstances, when the BJP is oppressing the Muslim community, Akhilesh wishes to save 'real Hindutva'.

"The middleman betrayed the Muslims in Uttar Pradesh by saying that they have to defeat the BJP and then they voted for Akhilesh. But the BJP won the election. Now when BJP is trying to marginalise and target Muslims in the entire country, Akhilesh Yadav is saying that he wants to save real Hindutva," Asaduddin Owaisi said.

In an attack at the Samajwadi Party chief, Owaisi said, "Doesn't he want to save secularism or the Constitution? How can Hindutva, secularism and Constitution be together?"

Lambasting the Samajwadi Party chief for "playing with Muslims", Owaisi said, "...I am saying from the beginning that the politics of Akhilesh revolves around playing with the Muslims, the minorities in Uttar Pradesh, just to betray them."

The AIMIM chief said that Muslims in Uttar Pradesh need to understand that they need to have an "independent political voice".

"That is why Muslims in Uttar Pradesh need to understand that they need to have an independent political voice of their own. How long will you continue supporting these traitors who talk about saving real Hindutva?"

Owaisi stressed that Muslims need to think about how can Hindutva and Constitution be together.

"How can Hindutva and Ambadkar's Constitution, Hindutva and ideals of fraternity, liberty, equality merge? You need to think about these," the AIMIM chief said.