TPCC President addresses a meeting of minority leaders at Shabbir Ali’s residence
- Shabbir accuses KCR of targeting Muslims, their institutions
Hyderabad, July 3: Calling Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao a pseudo-secular, newly appointed President of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) & MP A. Revanth Reddy appealed to the minorities to reconnect with the Congress party to defeat communal forces at the national level.
Revanth Reddy was addressing a meeting with the minorities’ leaders organized by former minister & ex-Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir at his residence in Jubilee Hills on Saturday. The meeting was held to discuss arrangements for the swearing-in ceremony of Revanth Reddy as TPCC President at Gandhi Bhavan on 7th July.
Speaking on the occasion, Revanth Reddy said that the BJP has been polarising the elections by accusing the Congress party of Muslim appeasement. On the other side, the Muslim community has been supporting regional parties like TRS who are ultimately supporting the BJP at the national level. He said this trend has caused immense damage to the secular fabric of India. He said that the Congress party never appeased any particular community and it only ensured social justice by giving equal opportunities to all the communities without any discrimination.
Revanth Reddy called CM CKR an agent of BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Citing several instances, he said KCR has supported the BJP in all its anti-minorities moves. He said TRS MPs supported the BJP Govt in Triple Talaq Bill and did not oppose the Citizenship Amendment Act or the National Register of Citizenship. Despite repeated demands by the Congress party, he said that the TRS Government did not pass a resolution in the Assembly opposing CAA and NRC. He said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has rightly described TRS as B-Team of BJP. Both BJP and TRS are enacting the drama of political rivalry to cheat and mislead the people of Telangana.
The TPCC President also slammed CM KCR for not honoring the promise of giving 12% reservation in jobs and education to Muslims. “KCR had promised to implement 12% Muslim quota within four months after coming to power. He did nothing in the last seven years and still misleading the community,” he said adding that the Congress party fulfilled the promise of giving 5% Muslim reservation in just 58 days after coming to power in 2004. Although the quota was reduced to 4% on the directions of the High Court, this move alone has benefitted nearly 20 lakh poor Muslims. He praised the role played by Shabbir Ali in implementing the 4% Muslim BC-E quota. “This was conceptualized by Shabbir Ali, approved by Ghulam Nabi Azad and implemented by the then Chief Minister Dr. Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy,” he said.
Revanth Reddy also ridiculed CM KCR’s claims of empowering the Muslim community. “By giving the post of Home Minister to a Muslim, KCR thinks that he has empowered the entire community. Congress has made a Muslim (M.M. Hasham) the Home Minister of the then united Andhra Pradesh when KCR was a school student. A Muslim leader, Kamaluddin, was made the APCC President. Shabbir Ali was the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council till recently. Congress party also has the credit of giving the top posts of President of India, Vice President, Chief Minister, and Governor to members of the Muslim community,” he said.
Stating that CM KCR has spent huge money to defeat him from the Kodangal seat in the 2014 Assembly elections, he said that the people of Telangana, including Muslims, showered their blessings on him by ensuring his victory from the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 elections. He said he never disappointed the Muslim community and was at the forefront of opposing anti-minority bills like CAA in the Lok Sabha. He appealed to the Muslim community to re-connect with the Congress party and reject TRS, a secret ally of BJP.
Addressing the meeting, Shabbir Ali appealed to the party workers to expose the failures of the TRS Government at their levels. He said that the hype created by the TRS Govt over the welfare of minorities must be exposed. He said not a single promise made by the TRS in its manifestoes for the 2014 and 2018 elections were fulfilled. “KCR has won the elections by promising equal opportunities for minorities. However, he has been targeting the Muslim community, its institutions, and even places of worship, especially after winning the second term,” he said.
Shabbir Ali pointed out that the TRS Govt has so far demolished six mosques and other religious places across the Telangana State. He said all institutions like Urdu Academy, Minorities Finance Corporation, etc., were being deprived of funds and staff. He said KCR has now turned so communal that he was denying representation of Muslims in other bodies. There is no Muslim among the 10 Vice-Chancellors of various universities. Similarly, no Muslim found a place in the newly constituted Telangana State Public Service Commission. TRS Govt wants to re-name institutions and places named after Muslims. KCR is nothing but Yogi of Telangana,” he alleged.
The meeting was attended by all senior minority leaders of the Congress party and discussed arrangements for the visit of the TPCC President to Dargah-e-Yousufain at Nampally on 7th July before proceeding to Gandhi Bhavan to take charge.