Karnataka Congress accepts Abdul Jabbar’s resignation

Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar on Sunday accepted the resignation of party Minority Department chairman K Abdul Jabbar and dissolved the committees constituted under him.

Jabbar announced his resignation on Saturday, a day after a group of Muslim leaders accused members of their own party of “conspiring” to defeat the official candidate in Davanagere South. In his letter to the party, Jabbar said minority voters and office-bearers are the backbone of the Congress and deserve better.

Later, speaking to reporters, he expressed shock at the party office being used by some minority community leaders as a platform to attack senior leaders from the same community.

Jabbar, an MLC, was an aspirant for the Congress ticket from the Davanagere South Assembly segment.

“K Abdul Jabbar has tendered his resignation from the post of chairman, KPCC Minority Department. The resignation has been accepted, and he stands relieved of the post with immediate effect. Further, the KPCC Minority Department committee stands dissolved with immediate effect,” Shivakumar said in a statement.

A rift surfaced within the Karnataka Congress on Friday, a day after bypolls to two Assembly constituencies, as a group of Muslim leaders alleged an “internal conspiracy” by some senior party leaders to defeat the official candidate in Davanagere South, where the minority community has a significant presence.

They said the party had named Samarth Mallikarjun as the candidate after considering all factors and taking Muslim leaders into confidence. Despite this, a campaign-allegedly involving some within the party-projected the Congress as having “betrayed” minorities by denying them the ticket.

Chief Whip in the Legislative Council Saleem Ahmed, MLAs Rizwan Arshad and Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan, MLC Bilkis Bano and other leaders addressed a joint press conference on Friday, alleging an “internal conspiracy”.