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Ticket sought for Muslim nominee

JAIPUR: A strong demand for the Congress ticket to a Muslim candidate in the Sikar constituency in the coming Assembly elections in Rajasthan was placed at a meeting of the District Congress Committee’s minority department in Sikar on Saturday.

The participants, who included political heavyweights belonging to both the Narain Singh and Parasram Mordia factions of the District Congress, pointed out that the “vote bank” formed by Muslims in Sikar was the largest in the entire Shekhawati region. The community has without exception backed Congress in the district since Independence.

DCC minority department president Saeed Ahmed Qureshi pointed out that there were more than 60,000 minority votes in the constituency which has two lakh voters. “With the political awareness rising among Muslims, their demand for a due share in the party that they nurtured for half a century is perfectly justified,” he said.

There were strong signals of serious consequences in disguise in the event of denial of ticket, with the speakers affirming that the “awakened numbers” in the minority community could ensure failure of all political strategies designed by “smart individuals”. They regretted that Congress had never obliged Muslims in the distribution of tickets in the Shekhawati belt.

The DCC minority functionaries also pointed out that the demand for candidature of a Muslim was not solitary in Sikar, but was also raised earlier in several other districts, such as Jhunjhunju, Churu, Bikaner, Jodhpur and Jaipur.

Those attending the meeting represented all groups, sects and castes of the minority community. The participants included AICC member and Municipal Council chairman Hanif Khatri, DCC senior vice-president Islamuddin Ghauri, and City Congress Committee president Jeevan Khan.

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