Hyderabad: The Congress party on Sunday appealed the Muslims to defeat TRS in next Assembly elections to convey the message that those who cheat the community with false promises could not stay in power.
Addressing a review meeting with party workers at Nizamabad DCC office, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Minorities Department chairman Shaik Abdullah Sohail said that the cheating done by TRS with Muslim community was unpardonable.
He said caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao lured the Muslims in the last elections with the promise of giving 12% reservation in jobs and education. He did not fulfil the promise in the last four-and-a-half years and today he is not even talking about it.
“Muslims of Telangana are poor, but not fools. When we trust someone, we mean it. But when someone tries to cheat us and play with our sentiments, we don’t spare them. KCR took the Muslim community for granted and therefore, TRS will be punished with a humiliating defeat in next elections,” he said.
Abdullah Sohail exhorted the Muslims to come out of ‘we are minorities’ syndrome. “Muslims constitute over 13% of total population in Telangana State. We have a sizeable presence in almost 40 Assembly constituencies and our votes are the deciding factor.
No political party should dare to humiliate you as it was done by TRS. Realise your strength and use it to defeat TRS for not fulfilling any of the promises that it made with the community,” he said adding that the entire nation was looking at Telangana, especially to watch how Muslims punish their betrayers like TRS and MIM.
The Congress leader said if by mistake, TRS retains power, no political party would take the Muslim community seriously in future. There will be no fear of backlash on failed promises and the entire community would only face humiliation.
Describing next Assembly elections as a ‘do or die’ battle, he said KCR should be punished for having secret alliance with the BJP and for strengthening Hindutva forces at the national level.
He also asked the Muslims to be cautious with MIM which could enter the fray from many constituencies only to divide Muslim votes. “Any vote for TRS or MIM will be a vote for BJP,” he said.
Abdullah Sohail also furnished the figures of Muslim population in various constituencies to substantiate the claim that the community had a strong presence in many seats outside Hyderabad.
He said besides 24 seats in Greater Hyderabad which have sizeable Muslim voters, there were 22 other seats across the Telangana State which has more than 10% Muslim voters. He said that the TPCC Minorities Department has done extensive surveys and extracted data from the official sources like the Census of India.
As per the available statistics following is the percentage of Muslims in these constituencies: Nizamabad (Urban) – 30.56%; Rajendranagar – 29.67%; Zahirabad – 29.11%; Bodhan – 28%; Mahbubnagar – 23.03%; Sangareddy – 20.67%; Adilabad – 19.53%; Karimnagar – 17.75%; Banswada – 17.7%; Tandur – 17.23%; Viqarabad – 15.72%; Nirmal – 15.51%; Mudhole – 15.19%; Khammam – 12.65%; Koratla – 11.84%; Nalgonda – 11.54%; Quthbullapur – 11.38%; Kamareddy – 11.14%; Andole – 11.06%; Armur – 10.8%; Jukkal – 10.7% and Jagtial – 10.37%.
Abdullah Sohail asked the cadre to equip themselves with the information on their strengths, failures of TRS Government and MIM, BJP’s plan to suppress the minorities and the future plans of Congress party for the welfare of minorities in Telangana.
He directed them to visit each household in their constituencies and sensitise them regarding the power of their votes.
Nizamabad DCC President Taher Bin Hamdan and other senior leaders also addressed the meeting.