A local court will on Monday hear a case against an Andhra Pradesh lawmaker and a senior leader of the city-based Majlis-e Ittehadul-Muslimeen (MIM) for delivering a “provocative” speech and trying to whip up communal passions. The case against Akbaruddin Owaisi, an MLA from the old city of Hyderabad, was admitted by the court on Friday on the complaint of an advocate, K Karunasagar. The advocate accused the MLA of insulting his religion, religious beliefs and trying to stir trouble between Hindus and Muslims.

On December 24, addressing a public meeting in Nirmal town of Adilabad district of Andhra, the MLA used inflammatory and derogatory words against Hindu gods, he alleged.

In his almost two-hour long speech, the MLA, who spoke on a number of issues including Babri demolition and Narendra Modi, tried to instigate the crowd by calling for a ‘test of strength’ against the majority community.

Akbaruddin’s elder brother Asaduddin Owaisi represents Hyderabad in the Lok Sabha.

Since it parted ways with the ruling Congress in the southern state in November, MIM is trying to expand base by asserting its religious identity aggressively. The Nirmal meeting was a part of the exercise.

Akbaruddin couldn’t be reached for comments as he is in London for treatment. Last year, he survived a bid on his life.

Though the video was taken off YouTube, the speech was trending on Twitter on Friday  afternoon.