MIM Leader Mohd Ghouse Joins Congress

MIM senior leader and former corporator Mohammed Ghouse joined the Congress Party on Friday.

Ghouse, who was elected as a corporator in 2002 and 2009 from the Charminar ward as an MIM candidate, came to Gandhi Bhavan in a massive rally from Charminar and joined the Congress in the presence of TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Ali Shabbir, GHCC Minorities Department's Shaik Abdullah Sohail and other leaders.

Along with Ghouse, hundreds of MIM workers also joined the Congress today.

Addressing the media later, Reddy alleged that the MIM had done nothing for the Muslim community, and that its leaders had been working to serve their own selfish ends.

He said that the MIM had aligned with the BJP, the RSS and other communal forces at the national level and had been helping them secretly. He also alleged that the MIM leaders were working at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah to divide the country on communal lines.

Senior Congress Leader and MLC Mohammed Ali Shabbir said that the MIM headquarters had turned into a den of land grabbers, illegal financiers, and the rich and the elite. The MIM was not working for welfare of the poor at all, he alleged.

He also dubbed the MIM as "Modi In Mask" and Asaduddin Owaisi as "Junior Modi". He alleged that the MIM had contested elections in Maharashtra, Bihar and other places only to benefit the BJP and other communal forces.

He claimed that only the Congress was capable of fighting the communal forces.

He also accused the MIM of being against the development of the Muslim community. He said that the Party had even opposed reservation for the community, and that the then Congress government had given a 4% reservation for the community despite Opposition from the MIM. That had benefited over 10 lakh poor Muslims, he said.

AICC secretary R C Khuntia, too, said that the entry of Mohammed Ghouse into the Congress proved that the MIM was losing its support within the community.

Explaining the reasons for his exit from the MIM, Ghouse said that the Party was indirectly working to benefit "the communal forces".

"The present MIM leadership has deviated from the principles of late Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi. Without having any organisation or workers' base, the MIM contested elections in Maharashtra to benefit the BJP and the Shiv Sena. The MIM's entry into Maharashtra, Bihar and Bengaluru was directed by Amit Shah. The Party did not go to Delhi or Jharkhand as the BJP was strong in those States," he alleged.

He also claimed that everyone in the Old City was disappointed with the MIM's leadership and its secret ties with the BJP. He said that many more MIM leaders would join the Congress soon.

Former Union Minister Sarve Satyanarayana, TPCC Minorities Department chairman Mohammed Fakhruddin, GHCC general secretary Syed Nizamuddin and other senior leaders were present.