BHOPAL – Octogenarian politician and former Uttar Pradesh governor Aziz Qureshi on Tuesday sparked a political controversy in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh saying that Congress leader chanting Ganga Maiya Ki Jai and Garv se kaho Hindu hain is shameful.
He accused his own party (Congress) for indulging in “Hindutva” politics saying “they (Congress leaders) take out religious yatras and install idols at the MP Pradesh Congress office.
The veteran Congress leader was addressing a gathering of Congress Muslim leaders to mark the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister (late) Rajiv Gandhi in Lateri area of Vidisha district. The controversy was sparked after a video of his speech surfaced on social media.
“Muslims are not slaves of the political parties including Congress. Why should Muslims vote for you when there are no jobs for them in the police, defence forces and banks? They aren’t even guaranteed bank loans? Their (Muslims) shops, places of worship and houses are burnt, their kids are made orphans,” Qureshi said.
He said that the Muslims will tolerate atrocities to a limit only. “If the red line is crossed, then will be no harm if one to two crore give their lives out of 22 crore Muslims living in India,” he said.
BJP spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi took jibe at Congress saying, “What the former governor has said exposes the actual face of Congress. He has exposed the Congress appeasement politics. Rahul Gandhi and Kamal Nath should come clear about Qureshi’s statements. If the two leaders remain silent on this, it will mean their tacit approval of the veteran’s statements.”
However, the Madhya Pradesh Congress has distanced itself from Qureshi’s remarks saying that these are his personal views.
“Congress believes in secularism and cannot subscribe to what has been reportedly said by him (Qureshi),” the state Congress’s media department head K.K Mishra said.
Notably, Qureshi (82) has been a minister in the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh. He has also served gubernatorial positions in UP, Uttarakhand and Mizoram in the past.
In 1972, he won on Congress ticket from Sehore assembly and was also elected to the Lok Sabha as Congress candidate from Satna seat of Vindhya region in 1984. -IANS
