Hyderabad, Feb. 3:
Hyderabad District Congress Committee (DCC) President Sameer Waliullah, who is an aspirant for the party ticket from Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat, has said that the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) is not the sole representative of Muslims.
He is confident that the Congress party will wrest the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat from AIMIM.
Sameer Waliullah on Saturday submitted his candidacy application at the party headquarters, Gandhi Bhavan, to contest as the Congress party candidate from Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat.
“I have formally submitted the application and requested the Congress High Command to consider my candidature. If given the opportunity, I will do my best to win the Hyderabad seat,” he stated, adding that he would abide by whatever decision the party leadership makes.
Sameer Waliullah alleged that the leadership of the AIMIM has utterly failed to bring about any development in Hyderabad.
“MIM has been winning the Hyderabad seat since 1984, but the constituency has remained stagnant for 40 years. There has been no improvement in terms of infrastructure, literacy rate, basic amenities, employment, or other parameters. Only the Congress party can bring the necessary change to Hyderabad,” he said.
The Congress leader alleged that MIM President and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi caused significant damage to Muslim interests across the country.
“Asaduddin Owaisi used his speeches and media statements as a tool to strengthen the BJP and Sangh Parivar nationwide. By engaging in communal politics, he fuelled the Sangh Parivar, ultimately aiding the BJP in strengthening its presence in many states,” he asserted.
Sameer Waliullah dismissed Asaduddin Owaisi’s claims of being the sole representative of Muslims in India. He highlighted that the Congress party has produced numerous Muslim leaders who served as MLAs, MLCs, MPs, ministers, and even Chief Ministers in states like Maharashtra. He said the Congress party nurtured Muslim leadership capable of serving all communities in a truly secular manner. He accused Owaisi of suppressing Muslim leadership in other secular parties by projecting himself as the exclusive representative of the Muslim community.
The Congress leader argued that MIM has never allowed Muslim leaders from secular parties like Congress to flourish. As an example, he pointed out MIM’s damaging role in ensuring the defeat of two Muslim candidates from the Congress party in the recently concluded Assembly elections – Mohammad Ali Shabbir in Nizamabad Urban and Mohd Azharuddin in Jubilee Hills.
Waliullah declared that the time has come to put an end to MIM’s communal politics, asserting that change would begin with the victory of the Congress party in the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat. As the president of the Hyderabad DCC, he has already intensified party activities in all seven Assembly segments, and a detailed strategy is being prepared for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
