Congress cautions Muslims against voting for TRS

Hyderabad: The Congress party has cautioned the minorities, especially Muslims, of Telangana State against voting for TRS in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan on Thursday, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Minorities Department chairman Shaik Abdullah Sohail predicted that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) would join the BJP-led NDA on April 12, the next after first phase of polling in Telangana. Else, he said Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao would campaign for BJP, its allies or other parties that could split the secular votes in other parts of the country.

Referring to the recent statement made by Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Sohail said that the Goyal himself has confirmed that TRS and YSRCP were allies of BJP in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh respectively. He said that the Congress party has exposed the nexus between TRS and BJP long back and now the relationship between them was confirmed by none other than a top minister in Prime Minister Narender Modi's cabinet. "Once the polling is completed in Telangana on April 11, KCR will announce his support for BJP and NDA on the next day. Therefore, minorities, especially the Muslims, should be extra cautious. They must understand that voting for TRS will be like voting for BJP," he said.

Sohail also appealed the Muslims of Telangana to keep national interest in mind while voting. "We give priority to local issues in GHMC polls. Similarly, State-related issues get prominence in Assembly elections. Likewise, voting for Lok Sabha elections should be done on national issues. Muslims must realise that only Congress party has the capability to defeat BJP and Modi at the national level. Therefore, the community must ensure that Congress gets maximum number of MP seats from Telangana," he said.

The Congress leader said that only Congress party could ensure protection of secularism and democracy in the country. "Regional parties like TRS or sub-regional parties like MIM would be confined to extending support to other big parties or join alliances. They cannot make policies on their own to ensure growth of minorities. Therefore, Congress is the only choice for minorities in Telangana if they wish to see a government at the Centre that could protect their rights," he said.

He ridiculed the claims being made by TRS of winning 16 seats in forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. "TRS leaders have become habitual of making false promises and tall claims. Despite having the support of 15 MPs in the last term, KCR merely acted like an agend of PM Modi. Therefore, the addition of one more MP seat will not change his status. TRS will continue to act as an ally of BJP and KCR will remain a Modi-Bhakt," he said.

Sohail said that the 'Nyuntam Aay Yojana' or NYAY scheme proposed by Congress President Rahul Gandhi to provide Rs. 72,000 per annum to poorest of poor families would benefit a majority of Muslims in Telangana. He claimed that the previous Congress-led UPA regime from 2004-2014 was the Golden Decade for Muslims in India when a series of schemes were implemented for the upliftment of the community.

The Congress leader said that the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had constituted Justice Rajender Sachar Committee on March 9, 2005 to study the social, economic and educational conditions of Muslims in the country. Based on the report submitted on November 17, 2006, Prime Minister's New 15-Point Programme was announced wherein 24 major schemes were implemented by 11 ministries.

Quoting statistics from the report "Evaluation of Prime Minister's New 15 Point Programme for Welfare of Minorities", Sohail informed that several measures were taken from 2006-07 to 2013-14 which revolutionised the lives of crores of poor Muslims across India. They include construction of buildings for 1,59,39 Primary Schools and 8,151 Upper Primary Schools; 230,649 additional class rooms; Sanction of 1,25,386 teachers' post in Minority Concentrated Districts; Establishment of 21,486 new Primary Schools and 11,871 upper primary schools; 555 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) in minority areas; Operationalisation of 70,731 Anganwadi Centres; Housing for 25,72,132 minorities at a cost of Rs. 8,761 crore under Indira Awas Yojna (IAY); Modernisation of 53,441 Madarsas at a cost of Rs. 797 crore and training for 99,243 teachers.

Sohail said that the previous Congress-led UPA Government has spent thousands of crores on education for minorities. Starting with Rs. 62 crore in 2008-09, the Pre-Matric Scholarship amount was raised to Rs. 964 crore in 2013-14. From 2008-2014, as many 2.64 crore minority students were given Pre-Matric scholarship of Rs. 3076 crore. Similarly, from 2007-08 to 2013-14, a total of 34,33,232 Post-Matric students were given Rs. 1663 crore. An amount of Rs. 261 crore were spent on Merit-cum-Scholarship scheme. He said it was the UPA Government which established National Waqf Development Corporation Ltd. (NAWADCO) with a corpus of Rs. 500 crore to develop Wakf properties in the country.

The Congress leader said a separate Ministry of Minority Affairs was formed on 29th January 2006. Starting with Rs. 144 crore in 2006-07, it budget was increased by 23 times to Rs. 3,531 crore in 2013-14. He said the list of Congress-led UPA Government schemes was too long. However, he said that the BJP Government discontinued several schemes and slashed the budget for minority welfare. He said TRS Government never raised its voice against Modi Govt for its discriminatory attitude towards Muslims. Therefore, he said all minorities, especially Muslims, must vote for the Congress party in Lok Sabha elections if they want the days of 'Golden Decade' to return.