After the ruling Trinamool Congress, it is the turn of the Congress and some smaller political groups to fish in the troubled communal waters to garner Muslim votes before panchayat elections.
A day after the Trinamool Congress leaders expressed their plans to move the Supreme Court to seek a modification of the panchayat poll dates so that they do not clash with the month of Ramzan, the Congress on Sunday said it would also follow suit.
Muslim leader Siddiqullah Chowdhury’s party PDCI and some other smaller minority groups were also planning to move the Apex Court “to save the Muslim community the inconvenience of voting during the Ramzan month.”
Both the sides blamed the State Government squarely for not mentioning the issue before the Court on Friday while the order rescheduling the five-phase panchayat elections on July 11, 15, 19, 22 and 25 were being passed.
Trinamool MP Kalyana Banerjee and Bengal Minister Firhad Hakim had on Saturday quoting Cheif Minsiter Mamata Banerjee said they would move the Apex Court to modify the panchayat polls dates.
“The Government owes an answer to the Muslims as to why it failed to mention the issue,” Chowdhury said on Sunday while Congress leader OP Mishra said: “It is the Mamata Banerjee Government that brought things to such a pass as the State Election Commission had for long been trying to hold the elections in April or May. Today the Supreme Court has given an order completely supporting the SEC’s contention. So the Government will have to take the blame.”
The Marxists, on the other hand, said there was no point in delaying the polls and the political outfits should instead convince the Muslims and take them into confidence. “Now with things having come to such a pass, the minority friends should be taken into confidence before going to the polls. The political parties should take this responsibility upon themselves instead of playing on people’s sentiments.”
BJP, on the other hand, blamed both the Congress and the Trinamool Congress for trying to play to the Muslim gallery. “This is a cheap ploy to garner Muslim votes as there should not be any problem holding elections,” BJP State president Rahul Sinha said.
Curiously, Government offices and business establishments remain open during the Ramzan month. In fact, a Muslim country like Kuwait was going to polls during this month, BJP leaders said.
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nlyIJntIJIJ8IJIJty can make Telangana a reality. “All others are making just noises,” he said ridiculing those Congress MPs, MlAs and other leaders who left party to join other parties in the name of Telangana.
Congress MP from Secunderabad Anjan Kumar Yadav said that Telangana will be announced next month and people of the region will celebrate next Bonalu festival in their own State.
MP Ponam Prabhakar said that giving Telangana State was responsibility of Congress party as it had repeatedly made the promise.
Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, who had quit the cabinet on Telangana issue asked the partymen to be ready to take tough decisions and make sacrifices for the sake of
separate State.