By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
Patna: In Maharashtra the political storm against the Congress- NCP government which started in the Marathwada and soon spread to the Vidherba and Khandesh region, is picking up its speed day by day.
The latest in the series of blows to the Congress party is the decision of the ruling Third Front in the Malegaon Municipal Corporation to break all its ties with the Congress party.
The Third Front in alliance with the Congress party was ruling party in the Corporation. The Front has 30 corporaters including two non-Muslim corporaters.
Third Front is a political party established just three months before the Corporation election in Malegaon which is probably the only district in west India where Muslim constitutes 70 percent of the total population of the district.
In the 2007 corporation election it emerged as the single largest party with 28 seats out of 72 while Congress bagged 15 seats.
TwoCircles.net talked to Mufti Md. Ismail Qasmi the founder president of the Third Front.
“We have broken all the ties with the Congress Party in Malegaon Municipal Corporation and the decision has been taken unanimously in the presence of all the thirty corporaters” he said.
“The biggest reason for this decision is the growing anger among the masses against the Congress government. We decided this when we found that the general public wants us to break our alliance with the congress party.”
Md. Ismail Qasmi, who became very famous when he agreed to form an alliance with Shiva Sena in the Malegaon Municipal Corporation in May 2007, pointed that the wave of anger against Congress is the direct result of its pathetic and completely indifferent response to violent attacks on Muslims particularly in the recent communal riots.
He further said that his alliance with the Congress was not an alliance if one takes into account the role of Congress which was that of opposition.
The Third Front wanted to deliver all the promises which it did in the corporation election of 2007 but the Congress party through its government machinery in the state always put obstacles in the way of developmental works, he said.
Since last two weeks, all over Maharashtra the Muslim politicians, corporaters, and holders of political posts at all the levels from Panchayat to the state have resorted to en masse resignation.
TwoCircles.net talked to a number of these politicians and they say it is the only way left for them in order to protest against the inaction of the state government in the context of preplanned communal violence against the Muslims, the burning of their business and properties, and the arrest of the Muslims in the riot cases, and the arrests of Muslim youths on charges of terrorism, which later is found to be fabricated.
Their en masse resignation is just en echo of what the Muslims of their constituencies feel about the government’s failure in stopping the pre planned violence against the Muslims in the communal riots particularly the Dhule riots.
It was only yesterday that the 20 Muslims corporaters of Akola Municipal Corporation in the Vidherba region, belonging to different political parties, have given ultimatum of 20 days to their respective parties.
If within this period the riot victims don’t get justice and compensations and their problems not solved then they will submit their resignation, they threatened.
The number of Corporaters who resigned from Nanded has increased to 20 which includes 14 from Congress and 6 from NCP.
Politicians are facing the heat of people for not doing enough to stop violence against the innocent riot victims and it is not limited to Muslims only.
Among those who resigned from congress include 2 non-Muslim corporaters. City party president Ajay Singh Besin and Vinay Patil Gerde submitted their resignation before the Congress state president Manik Rao Thackray.
The number of corporaters who resigned from Hinkoli and Prabhani has increased to 30 and 21 respectively.
Liyaqat Ansari in Prabhani is reported to have resigned from Chairmanship of Khadi Gram Udyog.
If people from Gram Panchayat and Panchayat Samiti are also included then more than 300 have resigned so far.
Talking to TwoCircles.net the former Maqbool Salim, the NCP corporater and party city president from Nanded who also resigned said that no MLA has resigned yet but the public resentment is so high that soon they will have to resign.