Congress not keen on grand iftar party?

Khilwat: The Telangana Congress, which used to organise Iftar party grandly at top function halls or at Gandhi Bhavan, resisted from organising such parties this time around. The only Iftar party in which the state Congress leadership was seen was at the party organised at Khilwat Grounds in the Old City on Tuesday.

It is believed that the party leadership desisted from organising grand Iftar party owing to party's poor performance in the LS elections and the ending of electioneering season. Another reason is that the party is not ready to spend more money, as huge amounts of funds were already pumped into the Assembly, and later in Parliamentary elections.

It may be mentioned here that each year the Congress party organises a grand 'Dawat-e-Iftar' at a high-end function hall near Haj House, not far away from the one hosted at LB Nagar by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. The event remained as an opportunity for Congressmen to remind the Muslim community about the CM's promise of 12 % reservation amongst others. But this time around, the party leadership seems to have satisfied with the Iftar party organised in the Old City, funded totally by local businessman-turned-politician who was earlier considered as the strongman of MIM.

The Tuesday's Iftar party at Khilwat Grounds in Old City was attended by top Congress leaders. The party leaders later distributed gifts to poor Muslims from the neighbourhood following Iftar.

Speaking on the occasion, TPCC chief and newly-elected Parliamentarian from Nalgonda N Uttam Kumar Reddy greeted the Muslim community "Eid Mubarak" in advance and described this as a great opportunity to serve the people who are fasting and attending the Iftar party in this part of the Old City.

He said that the Congress party from top leadership, including Rahul Gandhi to all the party men, stood for the secular values and has their commitment of upholding it. "Irrespective of caste and religion, the party is committed for secularism and has been striving for the welfare of the Muslims and secularism is its top priority," he added.

The Iftar party was attended by former MPs V Hanumantha Rao and Anjan Kumar Yadav. The Muslim leaders Zafar Javeed, Md Ghouse (contested MLA candidate), Amir Javeed and others distributed iftar packets. Later, Uttam Kumar was seen distributing Ramzan gifts to poor, along with the Muslim leaders. (TPCC) Minorities Department Chairman Shaik Abdullah Sohail, Anil Kumar Yadav, G Niranjan, Kumar Rao and others were present on the occasion.