First, an OBC had to fight for the party ticket & now a Dalit had to part from his portfolio to make way for carrying forward the Congress’s minority appeasement policy. Yes, we are talking about Congress government in Telangana.
CM Revanth Reddy faced a tough time replacing Naveen Yadav, an OBC, for Jubilee hills by-election as minority community members in the party strongly opposed the move. To placate them, Mohd Azharuddin was made an MLC and subsequently a minister. Now, a Dalit minister in the Revanth Reddy cabinet, Adluri Laxman Kumar, was told to quit his minority affairs department so that it could be given to Azharuddin.
But then this is how the Gandhi family has promoted a chosen few from the minority community to further their appeasement agenda & Mohd Azharuddin is a perfect example of it.
Telangana CM Revanth Reddy was recently seen giving a fiery speech in Jubilee Hills using the very words “Allah Miya” to justify his act of making controversial cricketer-turned-politician Mohd Azharuddin as minister in his government. But then, why did Revanth went out of the way to ensure that a cricketer turned politician became MLC and a minister, that too in quick succession.
Just some days back, on the recommendation ofthe Gandhi family, Mohd Azharuddin was nominated as MLC in Telangana under the governor’s quota and subsequently made a minister. He was further also given the minority welfare portfolio, earlier held by Adluri Laxman Kumar, a Dalit minister in Revanth cabinet.
CM Revanth Reddy did not hesitate for a moment in taking away the minority welfare portfolio from Adluri Laxman Kumar, who had been inducted into the Revanth cabinet just on June 8 this year.
Dalit organisations in the state question the reasoning behind allocating Minorities Welfare to Azharuddin only because he hails from a minority community, and ask as to why other portfolios were not considered. They said Mohd Azharuddin, a former cricketer, could have been given the sports ministry, why dishonour a Dalit minister.
However, Congress love for Azharuddin is not new. He is among the few politicians in Congress who have had the privilege of contesting elections on a Congress ticket from different parts of the country.
Shortly after he joined Congress in February 2009, the grand old party made him the candidate from the Muslim-dominated Moradabad Lok Sabha seat of Uttar Pradesh in the 2009 general election, where he emerged victorious. In the subsequent 2014 general elections, Azhar shifted his Lok Sabha seat and contested from Tonk–Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan again on a Congress ticket. Though, he lost this time to BJP candidate.
But then Congress’s fascination for Azharuddin did not stop there. He was made the working President of Telangana Congress in 2018. Furthermore, in the 2023 Telangana assembly elections, he was a Congress candidate from the Jubilee Hills assembly constituency. Though, Congress emerged victorious in the assembly, Azharuddin yet again lost the polls from Jubilee hills. In 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Mohd Azharuddin was appointed as a star campaigner by Congress courtesy Gandhi family.
Mohd Azharuddin’s cricketing carrer has been marred with controversies. One remembers he is the same Mohammed Azharuddin, who when removed as skipper of Indian cricket team for poor performance had then argued that he has been replaced as captain as he was from a minority community, never realising that he was one of the longest-serving captains in Indian cricketing history.
Even during match fixing controversy, where his alleged involvement was revealed, there too he played a communal card. Even not very long back, Mohammed Azharuddin had faced big humiliation as his name from the stand at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad was ordered to be removed. He was allegedly accused of misusing his position during his tenure as HCA president by taking arbitrary decisions.
What is then the sole criterion for Congress which ensures Azharuddin gets political importance in Congress. But then grand old party has always believed in minority appeasement & pseudo secularism & Azharuddin episode is no exception.
