Shabbir fires ‘betrayal’ salvo at BRS; credits Cong with true minority welfare

Senior Congress leader and Advisor to the Telangana Government Mohammed Ali Shabbir on Wednesday launched a sharp counterattack against the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), accusing its leadership of misleading Muslims with propaganda that the Congress had ignored minority welfare.

Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan, along with Minorities Welfare Minister Md Azharuddin , the senior leader said the BRS had no moral right to speak about Muslim welfare after a decade of neglect and discrimination.

He recalled that BRS chief K. Chandrashekar Rao had promised 12% Muslim reservation within four months of assuming power in 2014. “BRS ruled for 10 years. Not only did they fail to deliver 12%, but they even tried to remove the existing 4% reservation by neglecting the case in the Supreme Court,” he said. “No government advocate appeared before the court. It was the Congress that fought to defend the case.”

Shabbir Ali accused KCR of targeting Muslim representation by contesting from Kamareddy in 2023. “He came to Kamareddy not to represent the people but to defeat a Muslim leader, who fought for their rights. If he truly cared for minorities, he should have contested from Gosha Mahal to challenge the BJP,” he said, adding that KCR’s actions reflected “deep-seated prejudice and political opportunism.”

He said KCR displayed equal hatred for Muslim and Dalit leaders. Citing an example, he said KCR made six Congress MLCs defect to the BRS just to strip him of the post of Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council. “Similarly, he made 11 MLAs defect to the BRS just to deny the LoP post to Dalit leader Bhatti Vikramarka. That is the real face of the BRS leadership,” he remarked.

He accused the previous government of neglecting Urdu, pointing out that Urdu-medium schools were closed and not a single Urdu teacher was appointed. “The Holy Quran begins with the word Iqra (read), and the Congress has always focused on educational empowerment of Muslims,” he said.

Referring to the Waqf issue, Shabbir Ali said KCR had promised to restore encroached lands and give judicial powers to the Waqf Board but failed to act. “Instead, he sealed the Waqf records section in 2017. Not even an inch of land was recovered,” he alleged.