Hyderabad: Tahreek Muslim Shabban president and Telangana Muslim JAC president, Mohammed Mushtaq Mallik that voters belonging to minority communities, especially Muslims, should not lose their relevance in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections due to “continuous neglect” by mainstream political parties like Congress and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
In a media statement on Friday, March 29, Mushtaq Mallik alleged that the Congress, which enjoyed the open support of leading Muslim organisations in Assembly elections, has “failed to do justice to minorities since coming to power.”
He claimed that its beginning was “worse than that of the BRS, which decimated Muslim leadership across Telangana over the last decade.”
Mallik stated that Muslim organisations supported Congress with confidence, expecting it to ensure the socio-economic, educational, and political empowerment of minorities.
“However, despite enjoying open support during Assembly elections, the Congress government has sent a message that it no longer needs them,” he added.
Mallik slams Congress over no Muslims in cabinet
He further criticised the Congress government for not inducting a Muslim minister into the cabinet and for failing to ensure the election of Muslim candidates as MLAs.
He emphasised that it was the Congress’s duty to ensure that their Muslim candidates received votes from all communities, not just Muslims.
Additionally, he criticised Congress for denying a cabinet berth to a Muslim under the pretext that Muslims did not elect any Muslim MLAs and for not appointing Muslim leaders to top positions in recently formed corporations.
He stated that Congress “should have rectified the injustices perpetrated by the previous BRS government and avoided repeating the mistakes of the KCR-led BRS government.”
‘Congress no different from BJP’
However, he accused the Congress government of conspiring to suppress Muslim leadership within their party by denying a cabinet berth to a Muslim leader. “This makes Congress no different from the BJP, which does not make Muslim ministers,” he added.
He criticised the Congress for failing to appoint a head for the party’s minority department for four months, stating that the Congress “cannot avoid scrutiny by labelling these issues as internal matters.”
“Parties like Congress and BRS are discouraging Muslim leaders within their parties. Despite Muslim voters playing a decisive role in 14 out of 17 Lok Sabha constituencies and 40 out of 119 Assembly segments, the major parties, who call themselves secular, have not produced a single leader who could contest and win an election,” he added.
He cited past leaders like Kamaluddin Ahmed, Abdul Lateef, Col Nizamuddin, and Lal Jan Pasha, who were elected as MPs from Congress, TDP, and the Left, as examples.
However, he claimed that Congress and BRS have ceased to nominate Muslim leaders for elections, except for “token representation” against AIMIM Asaduddin Owaisi from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat.
He warned Congress against the “arrogance and neglect” of Muslim leadership and voters, cautioning them not to take Muslim voters for granted in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
He stated that Muslim organisations were in touch and they would determine the future course of action in a few days.
