Hyderabad: A section of Muslim leaders in the Congress are not very happy with the party’s decision over the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat candidate. Supreme Court lawyer Shahnaz Tabassum was chosen by the party’s central leadership after a meeting earlier this week to face incumbent MP Asaduddin Owaisi from the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
However, minority leaders from the Telangana Congress unit are miffed with their party for overlooking its senior leaders for the seat. Tabassum is a practicing lawyer at the Supreme Court Of India. She is also the founder and national president of All India Azaad Congress Party.
”Revanth Reddy wants smooth sailing and Muslim votes, so he has the (AIMIM) on his side now. Everyone knows that the party is being friendly with Owaisi. However, what about people who have been working in the party for years and even a few decades? Shahnaz Tabassum is a respected lawyer, but she is an outsider or newcomer. She won’t be able to put up a fight, let alone win,” said a senior Muslim face from the Congress, who did not want to be quoted.
‘Congress minority cell neglected’
Another Muslim leader from the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) stated that the party has also more or less left the monitory cell defunct. “All the district committee heads are also still waiting for instructions even though the dates for the Lok Sabha elections are out. Our minority cell itself is defunct, so it is not surprising that they have given the seat to an outsider,” he told Siasat.com.
It may be noted that the Congress’s minority cell is currently headless, as its previous chairman Sheikh Abdullah Sohail quit and jumped ship to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) before last year’s Assembly election. He had then accused the grand old party of not looking into Muslim interests. His position has so far not been filled as well.
Congress going soft on AIMIM?
Another senior TPCC member had earlier confirmed that the party was not going to put up a strong face for the Hyderabad seat as it was trying to be friendly with the AIMIM. This was a surprising development as the AIMIM has been on “friendly” relations with the main opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
In the past, Owaisi had even asked Muslims in the state to vote for the BRS in public. “The problem is that the Congress does not have its own Muslim leadership in the state,” said the minority leader from the Congress.
Initially after the Congress won last year’s Assembly polls, the party hinted that it will take on the AIMIM, given that Owaisi has become a bitter critic of the grand old party. In fact, after MBT head Amjadullah Khan almost beat the AIMIM for the Yakutpura Assembly seat in last year Assembly polls, the Congress gave feelers that it wanted to support MBT for the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat. Amjadullah Khan lost the seat by a mere 878 votes.
However, that plan has also been scrapped. “Given that we are in power, we should easily get one lakh votes, and a strong Muslim contender against Owaisi would have given him a tough fight. However, the party is clearly not interested in that,” said the minority leader. Telangana has a total of 17 Lok Sabha seats, of which the AIMIM has been winning Hyderabad since 1984.
In 2019, Owaisi secured about five lakh votes, which his closest competitor from the BJP came second with 2.35 lakh votes.
