MUMBAI: About 30 Muslim organizations in Maharashtra jointly issued an ultimatum to the Congress party and its alliance partner the Nationalist Congress Party, and regretted the decision of the two parties for not giving proper representation to the Muslim community while fielding candidates for the Lok Sabha polls.
Demanding that the Congress-NCP field at least five Muslim candidates for the Lok Sabha polls in the state, Muslim scholars belonging to these groups warned that if their demand is not met the Muslims would be asked to support candidates from other secular parties.
They also demanded that the Congress and NCP should also support Abu Asim Azmi, former Rajya Sabha member and the Samajwadi Party candidate from Mumbai Northeast. The leaders of the organizations also said that the Muslims would support Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Mohammed Ali Shaikh from Mumbai South if the Congress and NCP did not accept their demands. The organizations include All-India Muslim Personal Law Board, All-India Ulema Council, Raza Foundation and All-India Ulema Association.
Maulana Syed Ather Ali, president of the All-India Ulema Council, said that given the fact that nearly 12 to 15 percent population of the state consists of Muslim community, the Congress and NCP should offer at least five seats to Muslim candidates from places were they would win.
He added that as far as the candidates of the alliance were concerned, the Congress had filed only one Muslim candidate, the federal Minorities Minister Abdul Rahman Antulay from Raigad, while the NCP has not fielded any Muslim candidate.
“The need is to keep the secular votes intact,” Ali said. Maulana Ejaz Kashmiri, also from the All-India Ulema Council, flayed the Congress and NCP and said that it was now necessary to support Azmi and Shaikh.
