Muslims, who stood by the TDP through thick and thin were being sidelined by the party high command due to misrepresentation by local leaders and vested interests, Dr. S.A. Rahaman, former MLA and Dr. Zaheer Ahmed, former city president of the party, told the media here on Monday.
The lack of representation for the community in the first list was a reflection of the raw deal being given to the community. Their problems like rampant poverty, illiteracy and social problems were not getting due attention of the government.
They wondered what justice would the party leadership do to the community when popular leaders were being denied tickets to accommodate others. Party president Chandrababu Naidu had expressed the view that 15 seats should be given to Muslims at the party’s ‘Nara Hamara’ programme.
Citing an example, they said Ameer Babu, a staunch supporter in Kadapa, was denied the ticket. In Hindupur, former MLA Abdul Gani had joined the YSRCP as he was sidelined to accommodate Nandamuri Balakrishna in the last elections. Similarly, K. Nagul Meera (Vijayawada) was denied ticket and should be accommodated at least now.
They said there was no dearth of Muslim leaders in Visakhapatnam. Dr. Rahaman said both he and Dr. Zaheer Ahmed had very good following in the region and one of them should be given the ticket for the South constituency, where there was a sizeable population of Muslim voters.
Dig at Vasupalli
He alleged that Visakhapatnam South MLA Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar had been disrespectful towards the Muslim leaders in the region by not inviting them to party meetings for quite a long time. They tolerated his high-handedness as disciplined party leaders. Dr. Rahaman said: “Our followers are questioning how long we should tolerate injustice being done to the community and we have no answer.”