Mumbai: A day after MLA and former youth wing chief Zeeshan Siddique alleged that there was ‘massive communalism’ within the Congress party and that he was removed from the position because he was a Muslim, the office-bearers of Youth Congress slammed him by calling him an opportunist and underperformer.
Mumbai Youth Congress (MYC) chief Akhilesh Yadav and working president Sufiyan Haider said that Zeeshan was targeting Congress at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has been trying to woo the Muslim community. They alleged that Siddique had conspired to quit the party just ahead of the entry of Rahul Gandhi’s Nyay Yatra in Maharashtra.
Yadav said that Zeeshan and his father Baba Siddique have quit Congress to get rid of the action in the ₹462 crore Enforcement Directorate (ED) case against them. “Zeeshan wanted to run the Mumbai Youth Congress as his private company and he never worked in the interest of the party. He is using the name of the Muslim community for his gain,” Akhilesh Yadav said.
Sufiyan Haider, working president of MYC, said that Zeeshan was an opportunist, “All his claims are false, be it communalism, body shaming or allegations against Aaditya Thackeray. Muslim leaders like Arif Naseem Khan, Aslam Shaikh and Zeeshan’s father Baba Siddique were given major responsibilities in the party. Had he levelled such allegations by joining some secular party, one would have accepted it, but he is joining the alliance led by the BJP. Zeeshan was made an MLA at 25 and was immediately appointed to head the youth wing and he was underperforming. He would hold executive meetings once in six months and would make other members wait for hours. He never organised any programme or public meeting of the youth wing,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Sufiyan Haider, working president of MYC, said that Zeeshan was an opportunist, “All his claims are false, be it communalism, body shaming or allegations against Aaditya Thackeray. Muslim leaders like Arif Naseem Khan, Aslam Shaikh and Zeeshan’s father Baba Siddique were given major responsibilities in the party. Had he levelled such allegations by joining some secular party, one would have accepted it, but he is joining the alliance led by the BJP. Zeeshan was made an MLA at 25 and was immediately appointed to head the youth wing and he was underperforming. He would hold executive meetings once in six months and would make other members wait for hours. He never organised any programme or public meeting of the youth wing,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Sufiyan added that the body shaming allegations wherein he was asked to reduce 10kg weight if he wanted to meet Rahul Gandhi during his Bharat Jodo Yatra are baseless. “As a district president, I met Rahul ji during his yatra, how can Zeeshan say he was denied permission? He alleges that Aaditya Thackeray (as a minister in Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi) would not take his calls, but the fact is even he would not answer the calls of the office bearers of MYC,” said Sufiyaan, who was district president under Zeeshan.
Zeeshan was removed from the post of president of MYC after his father Baba Siddique quit the party and Zeeshan skipped two party meetings. After divesting Zeeshan from the post by the party, Zeeshan in a press conference organised on Thursday alleged that he was sidelined because he is a Muslim and the party has communalism within it.
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