By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Vijayawada: With the NDA honeymoon almost certain to crash down, the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is all set to break the ice with Muslim community with the first gesture of the Minority Affairs Ministry getting its traditionalism back in Andhra Pradesh.
In a clever tactic to fill the void of no Muslim representation in his government, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu made sure party’s general secretary Mohammed Ahmed Shariff gets elected to the Legislative Council through MLA quota in spite of a heavy lobbying for the seat from different barons.
Ahmed Shariff got elected as MLC unopposed and took the oath on 30th May. Speaking with TwoCircles.net, TDP general secretary and now it’s only elected Muslim representative, minced no words in acknowledging that he got elected as the Chief Minister is serious to bridge the gap with Muslim community.
The BJP alliance before the assembly election last year created a trust deficit among the Muslims, resulting in TDP’s worst ever performance in Muslim pockets. As a result not a single Muslim got elected on the party ticket. After the government formation, the Minority Affairs Ministry, the traditional Muslim berth in the government, went as an additional charge to IT minister Raghunath Reddy, further alienating Muslims from the TDP government.
During last year’s budget session, when minorities got a raw deal, the main opposition YSR Congress created a ruckus in the house and even went to criticize TDP for not having a single Muslim on their bench.
“I have served the party for 32 years, but still this election is significant as I belong to minority community. Our leadership was concerned due to lack of presentation of minority in the decision making bodies, so my election was an important decision of the party to send the right signal,” Shariff said.
Ahmed Shariff conceded that BJP alliance coasted TDP its grass root Muslim support. He further candidly added that the alliance was ‘a political compulsion not an ideological leaning’. He didn’t comment on the future of the alliance but washed away hands saying, “We had to establish a new capital, for that good relation with the party in Centre was important, so the alliance was compulsive for us.”
Now according to him, the TDP is ready to cement the damage caused. “The Chief Minster will give two berths to Muslims in the cabinet. First priority is to bring out Minority Affairs Ministry from additional charge tag, as currently I am the only Muslim member in the legislative body; I am likely to be appointed as the Minority Affairs Minister. In near future, the CM will nominate one more Muslim to the legislative council to allot another cabinet berth,” Ahmed Shariff informed.
Minority Affairs Ministry will be significant for the government as Ahmed Shariff believes, given its now ‘dual functions’ of governance and political mobilization. Shariff said his first priority is to bring Muslims back into TDP’s fold. “Our government has outlined many ground-breaking programmes for Muslim community and party is working towards a membership drive to turn the tide of Muslim community in our favor.”