T-Congress Ropes In Jamiat Ulema For Muslim Votes

In a politically significant development, the Telangana Congress has roped in the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH) to get the Muslims' votes in the region in the ensuing Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

Participating in a JUH meeting, TPCC chief Ponnala Lakshmaiah accepted all 12 major demands presented by the JUH in return for the latter extending its support to the Congress party.

The demand included:

1. Sub-Plan for Minorities
2. 20% of the Area Development Funds of MPs and MLAs for Muslim dominated areas
3. Continuation of 4% reservation for Muslims in jobs and education
4. Housing and filling up of vacancies in Minorities Welfare and other related departments

Ponnala said that the implementation of the demands would begin within two weeks after the formation of the Congress Government in Telangana.

He also said that the minorities' issues would be reviewed once in every 3 weeks, at the party and government levels.

Former minister Mohammad Ali Shabbir, Sultan-ul-Uloom Educational Society Vice-Chairman Zafar Javeed and other leaders were also present.

Speaking to media persons later, Ponnala defended the giving of lesser number of tickets to Muslim candidates by the Congress party. However, he said adequate representation would be given to the community in nominated posts.

He skipped a question on the TRS' promise of giving 12% reservation to Muslims. But Shabbir Ali contended that 12% reservation was not legally possible, and cited the legal problems faced by the Congress Government after giving just 5% reservation. He said that the government was forced to cut down the quota by 1% and that the case was still going on in the Supreme Court.

Congress MLC and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind Telangana president Hafiz Peer Shabbir Ahmed said that JUH had decided to support the Congress party in order to defeat the communal forces in the State. He said that giving support to the TRS or other parties could be considered only if they came out with an open statement promising that they would not align with the BJP or the NDA in future.

Sources say that today's JUH meeting and its agenda was pre-decided. Ponnala and Shabbir Ali had already held separate meetings a few days ago with the heads of some prominent organisations seeking their support. The Congress party is trying to get support from different Muslim groups to win the next elections, and originally the Muslims groups were asked to target the TRS over inadequate allocation of tickets to Muslims. But since the Congress itself gave lower tickets compared that all other parties to Muslims, the Muslim groups were later asked to remain silent on the issue.

Several other issues including restoration of encroached Wakf lands, implication of Muslim youth in false cases including the Mecca Masjid Blast case and other contentious issues that could cause embarrassment for the Congress party were sidelined.

The Congress party is planning to hold a few more meetings with religious and social organisations in Hyderabad and other districts to ensure that it gets the 12%+ Muslim votes in Telangana, the sources added. (INN)