Hyderabad: Congress is a divided house. There have been more aspirants for the throne of chief minister than the mobilisers of people on the ground.
Sample this. Besides A Revanth Reddy who is credited with the resurgence of the Congress from the grassroots level, there are unconfirmed reports that claim at least two or three other claimants to the Telangana throne. They include Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Uttam Kumar Reddy.
Uttam Kumar, a former military man, was the President of the TS Congress before the arrival of A Revanth Reddy on the scene. He is a member of the Lok Sabha. On the other hand, Vikramarka, a postgraduate from the University of Hyderabad, was the leader of the Opposition in the outgoing assembly.
The Congress High Command has been in the know of things and decided to declare Revanth Reddy to head the Telangana State as its chief minister.
Now, we come to the second part of our story.
Who will be the Muslim minority face in the new council of ministers that is expected to be formed by Revanth Reddy after he is given oath as second chief minister of Telangana State on Thursday?
Some political pundits say Revanth Reddy would like two Muslim ministers in his council of Ministers. But for now, he has to choose one from a long list of probables.
Meanwhile, many names are taking rounds in the Congress circles.
The first among them is Mohammad Shabbir Ali, who lost this election from Nizamabad Urban. He has, some ten years ago served as a Minister in the Congress government of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. He is said to be close to Revanth Reddy since he was made the President of the Telangana Congress Committee. His main claim to fame, besides being a loyal Congressman without any break from his youth Congress days, is the four percent reservation in education and government jobs for the Muslims he has been able to successfully fight for. The case of reservation which was cleared by the AP High Court is now in the Supreme Court.
Incidentally, all the three Muslim candidates who fought on the Congress ticket this time around have lost. They are beside Shabbir, cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin from Jubilee Hills, Feroz Khan from Nampally, and Mujeebullah Shareef from Charminar.
Azharuddin has some solid contacts in the Congress in Delhi but has no political roots in Hyderabad, the city of his birth and growth. On the other hand, Feroz Khan has a good fighting spirit. Shareef is a little-known face and, therefore, has no backing from any significant quarter in the party.
Now if the Congress has to look in the non-contestant circle top of the list could be Zafar Javeed who has been with the party for a long time. He was with the Telugu Desam a long time ago and now serves as senior Vice President of the State Congress Committee. He is associated with a well-known set of educational institutions for minorities known as Sultanul Uloom. The other candidate could be Syed Shah Afzal Biyabani Khusro Pasha, former head of the AP State Wakf Board, who formed a group before the elections in support of the Congress party.
There could be some more party members working quietly to get the attention of Revanth Reddy for entry into his cabinet when it is formed.
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