By Mohd. Ismail Khan, TwoCircles.net
Hyderabad: A.P congress has announced all its candidates for the 18 assembly by-poll in the state. Mr. Rasheed Ahmed is the lone Muslim candidate in the list of 18. It was widely expected that at least two Muslims from congress will get ticket in this by elections to contest from Anantapur with 40,000 Muslim population and Rayachuti constituency with 60,000 Muslim voters. But at the end congress again played its politics.
It gave ticket to a Muslim candidate eyeing on the votes of Muslims from other constituencies. Raychuti was a potential ground for a Muslim candidate.
The party’s state leadership was in heavy pressure from its Muslim leaders, they were alleging discrimination and foul role in the state congress. They protested and raised this same issue with senior congress leader and union minister V. Ravi when he visited the state as an emissary of Sonia Gandhi and to check the preparation of the by-polls. V. Ravi at that time pacified the agitated Muslim Congress leaders and promised two Muslim candidates in the by-election. Even before the list was made, state M.P from Rajya Sabha M.A. Khan met Ahmed Patel political secretary of Sonia Gandhi and stressed for the same.
Mr Rasheed Ahmed is congress town president from Anantapur, he will contest from Anantapur urban constituency. No other major political parties have allotted ticket to a Muslim candidate other than congress. All the 18 assembly seats and Nellore parliamentary constituency have strong Muslim presence. The united support of Muslims will be a deciding factor.
Many believe Congress is playing the strategy of TRS. TRS in the last by-election allotted ticket to a Muslim candidate and siphoned the votes of Muslims in other constituencies with strong Muslim presence. However TRS Muslim candidate lost, due to the lack of support from the party cadre and leadership, but the other candidates of the party won by Muslim support.
So it will be interesting to see if Congress is going to support its lone Muslim candidate to win, or it will also go the TRS way.