WITH ASSEMBLY elections round the corner, Congress has started the exercise to woo minority voters in the State. On Tuesday, party leaders organised a conference of minorities in Rasoolpur locality and called upon the community to join the Congress. State chairman of the party?s minority cell, Abdul Mannan, said the minorities had punished Congress for its slackness in protecting Babri Mosque at Ayodhya but the punishment should end now.
WITH ASSEMBLY elections round the corner, Congress has started the exercise to woo minority voters in the State. On Tuesday, party leaders organised a conference of minorities in Rasoolpur locality and called upon the community to join the Congress. State chairman of the party’s minority cell, Abdul Mannan, said the minorities had punished Congress for its slackness in protecting Babri Mosque at Ayodhya but the punishment should end now.
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Delivering his views as the chief guest, Mannan said as the country had forgiven the assailant of Mahatma Gandhi, the community should forgive Congress as it had apologised for its fault.
He claimed that the party was determined for the welfare of the minorities.Without naming anyone, he said political parties that were largely supported by the minorities, had only cheated them.
Weaver’s community leader Qamruzzama Ansari said that subsequent non-Congress governments in the State had suspended all schemes for the community. Handloom Corporation had closed down with the government giving compulsory retirement to the employees.
Divisional president of the Congress Minorities Cell Iqbal Ahmad said non-Congress governments had blocked all avenues of progress for the minorities and the weaker section.
Senior party leader Diwaker Singh said UP was lagging in development process because of casteism and time had come when people should think and vote for development and progress.
Sanjiv Kumar, Chaudhary Irshad Husain, Chaudhary Najmuddin, senior party leader Shardendu Pandey, Tasneem Alam, Zameer Ahmad Payam and others also expressed their views on the seminar.
Earlier, talking to mediapersons, Abdul Mannan accused the State government of misusing the funds provided by the Union government and said ‘cash for vote’ strategy of Mulayam Singh Yadav would not benefit him.
He further alleged that the SP and the BJP were hand in glove and the decision of the State government to provide Rs 500 per month to emergency detainees had exposed the nexus as during emergency BJP leaders and RSS activists were put behind the bars.