Congress condemns CM KCR for neglecting Haj Pilgrims' farewell

Hyderabad: The Congress party has strongly condemned Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao for failing to visit the Haj House and bid farewell to the Haj pilgrims.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Minorities Department Chairman Shaik Abdullah Sohail, in a media statement on Monday, expressed his disappointment, stating that while the Chief Minister found time to visit neighbouring states to address BRS meetings, he neglected to spare any time for the Haj pilgrims departing from Haj House, Nampally in Hyderabad.

The departure of the Telangana Hajj Committee convoys began on June 7, and as of now, 13 convoys have already left. However, the Chief Minister did not make an appearance at the Haj House, he said. In contrast, other Chief Ministers, including Nitish Kumar of Bihar, Jaganmohan Reddy of Andhra Pradesh, and Siddaramaiah of Karnataka, bid farewell to the first convoy of pilgrims from their respective states.

He also pointed out that in the years following the formation of Telangana, KCR visited the Haj House in 2015, 2016, and 2017 to see off the pilgrims. However, since then, he has not participated in any of the departure programs. The departure of pilgrims was halted in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2022, only a limited number of pilgrims were able to travel. This year, the full quota of pilgrims has been restored. But CM KCR has no time to visit the Haj House to meet and send off the Haj pilgrims, he said.

Abdullah Sohail expressed his disappointment, stating that it was expected of Chief Minister KCR to spare some time to bid farewell to the Haj pilgrims as a gesture of respect to the guests of Allah. However, his absence has let down the pilgrims and the entire Muslim community. It was also revealed that despite informing the Chief Minister's Office about the departure program, no decision has been made regarding his arrival, which indicates a lack of value for the Muslims by CM KCR.

Stating that CM KCR’s fake secularism is getting unmasked layer-by-layer, the Congress leader accused him of betraying the Muslim community and strengthening the Modi Government since 2014, implementing a hidden agenda of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He alleged that KCR had done nothing for the Muslim community, despite their active participation in the struggle for a separate Telangana state. The claims made by the TRS government regarding minority welfare are hollow, as the allocated funds were not released, and the promised welfare schemes were not adequately implemented, he alleged.

"The way CM KCR disregarded the Haj pilgrims, the minority communities would reject the BRS party in a similar manner in the forthcoming Assembly elections," he claimed.