BRS claims credit for Azharuddin's cabinet post

Hyderabad: BRS senior leader Shaik Abdullah Sohail on Thursday claimed credit for Mohammed Azharuddin’s inclusion in the state cabinet. He asserted that the BRS consistently exposed the Congress government’s failure on minority representation. This pressure, he said, forced Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to act.

Sohail stated the Congress government denied Muslims a cabinet post for nearly 22 months. He called this an insult to a community that constitutes about 15% of Telangana’s population. “Only after sustained criticism by the BRS did the Congress high command realise the damage it was facing and hurriedly announce Azharuddin’s induction,” he stated.

The BRS leader recalled the Chief Minister’s earlier justification for the absence of Muslims, noting no Muslim MLA was elected on a Congress ticket. However, Sohail pointed out the party also failed to accommodate Muslim leaders through the Legislative Council. He cited the case of Amer Ali Khan. Khan was nominated as an MLC under the Governor’s quota but was kept out of the cabinet for 13 months.

Sohail said the Chief Minister later dropped Amer Ali Khan “without dignity” and replaced him with Azharuddin. This occurred after the Supreme Court cancelled Khan’s nomination along with that of Telangana Jana Samithi president Prof Kodandaram.

Sohail says BRS claims credit for Azharuddin in “desperate political move”

Sohail further remarked that Azharuddin’s inclusion might be short-lived. His appointment as MLC remains subject to the Supreme Court’s final decision. “Revanth Reddy himself is unsure whether Azharuddin will complete his term,” Sohail remarked.

He asserted the BRS’s sustained campaign highlighting this injustice compelled the Congress high command to act. Sohail claimed Congress leaders could not enter Muslim localities without facing questions. Consequently, he termed the induction a “desperate political move” to mislead Muslims before the Jubilee Hills by-election, not a genuine gesture.

He appealed to voters to defeat the Congress to ensure accountability. “Only if Congress faces defeat will it take its promises seriously. Otherwise, it will continue to deceive minorities with symbolic gestures,” he said.

Sohail also reminded that the Congress party failed to fulfill 12 key promises from its minority declaration. These included a Rs 4,000 crore annual budget for minority welfare and a minority sub-plan to ensure 100% spending. He also noted the failure to provide Rs 1,000 crore in subsidised loans for minority youth. The BRS, he added, will continue to fight until the Congress government honours its commitments.