Shaik Abdullah Sohail quit the grand old party over what he called growing communalization of the party under its state chief A. Revanth Reddy and alleged ‘sale’ of tickets for the next month’s Assembly elections.
– Our Correspondent
Hyderabad, Oct 29: The Congress party’s efforts to win back the support of Muslims in Telangana suffered a jolt with the resignation of chairman of minorities department of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC).
Shaik Abdullah Sohail quit the grand old party over what he called growing communalization of the party under its state chief A. Revanth Reddy and alleged ‘sale’ of tickets for the next month’s Assembly elections.
In a hard-hitting letter to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, he explained what forced him to end his 34-year-long association with the Congress party. He stated that it was unfortunate for him to work under the leadership of TPCC president and former Sangh Parivar activist A. Revanth Reddy.
“This is not the Congress which I joined and served for almost 34 years. It has been hijacked and transformed into another wing of Sangh Parivar. My conscience does not allow me to work behind an RSS-affiliate leader anymore,” he wrote.
He stated the last two-and-a-half years were extremely painful for him as the Congress party compromised its ideals just to come to power.
“It has been proved in Telangana that the Congress party’s claims on secularism are fake. Now it has become as deadly and venomous as the BJP for the Muslims.”
“Our predecessors have committed the mistake of supporting a leader with an RSS background. He not only became the chief minister but later became Prime Minister. Under his regime (Congress rule), Babri Masjid was demolished and this RSS man in Congress mask facilitated its demolition. We don’t want to create another Narasimha Rao by supporting the RSS-minded PCC president,” the Congress leader added.
He alleged that the claim of social justice was openly ridiculed in ticket allocation. The party which used to proudly claim that it belongs to all communities, has now reduced to being a party of just one dominant upper caste.
“Please mark my words. All the candidates who enjoyed the backing of Revanth Reddy, if elected, will join the BJP under the leadership of Revanth Reddy after December 3.”
Sohail said unfortunately the central leadership of the party remained ignorant and allowed an RSS agent to sabotage the entire party in two years.
“Having his roots in the RSS, Revanth Reddy targeted the Muslim leadership in the Congress party. He first made all the Muslim leaders fight each other and then ensured that all of them lost their relevance and grip. He discouraged minority-related programmes. Except for some symbolic iftar parties, he did not attend a minority-specific programme ever since he joined the Congress party,” wrote Sohail.
He pointed out that with a population of nearly 14.5 percent, Muslims are the single largest community in Telangana. However, the community was completely neglected in the TPCC. Out of 33 districts, there are only three Muslim DCCs which include Hyderabad (where Muslims are over 70%). Their presence is almost nil in all decision-making bodies like the Political Affairs Committee, Strategy Committee, Publicity Committee, etc.
He said the party has given tickets to non-Muslim candidates from Bahadurpura, Chandrayangutta and Yakutpura where Muslim voters are over 70%.
“Revanth Reddy’s communal approach could be gauged from the fact that he delayed the minorities declaration. I was part of 10-12 member committee that drafted the resolution. The entire exercise was a sham and confined to three closed-door meetings and just one meeting with Muslim organizations. Their suggestions were taken casually and nothing would get incorporated in the real manifesto.”
He wrote that Revanth Reddy will not allow a single Muslim candidate to win the elections. He is implementing his RSS agenda of crushing the Muslim leadership within the Congress party.
“One day or the other, the Congress party will realize that it has committed a big mistake by making an RSS pracharak the head of Telangana Congress. But that will be too late,” he added.
