Zeeshan said it was wrong on party’s part if it removed him because his father had joined NCP
The MLA talked about Rahul Gandhi’s team’s “rude behaviour” during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. File pic/Ashish Rane
Key Highlights
- Zeeshan Siddique hit back at the party
- He said the Congress wore a facade of secularism and did not want to be with minorities
- The youngest MLA in Maharashtra is one of the four Congress legislators from Mumbai
Zeeshan Siddique, who was sacked as the chief of Mumbai Youth Congress on Wednesday, hit back at the party. He said the Congress wore a facade of secularism and did not want to be with minorities, the Muslims in particular. “There is more communalism in the Congress than any other party. There is hypocrisy in the Congress. Muslims are not happy with the Congress,” he said during a press conference on Thursday.
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The youngest MLA in Maharashtra is one of the four Congress legislators from Mumbai. The party has three Muslim MLAs in the city. Zeeshan recalled he was troubled all along since 2019 by the senior Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders who were part of the MVA. “I have worked for many years and won three organisational elections. I was not nominated for the post. Yet, when they removed me they did not inform me officially,” he said.
Zeeshan said it was wrong on the part of the party if it removed him because his father had joined the NCP (Ajit Pawar). He added he wasn’t an isolated case. “There are many leaders in the Congress whose sons, brothers or fathers are in the other parties. Did they sack such leaders? Then, why have they picked a Muslim like me?” he questioned. Zeeshan said he had his options open. “When my father (Baba Siddique) quit the Congress, I said I was still in the Congress. But henceforth all options are open to me. I will talk to my voters and decide the next move.”
The MLA talked about Rahul Gandhi’s team’s rude behaviour during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. “Rahul ji is good. He is doing what he is expected to do. But people around him are out to destroy the Congress. They act as if they have been given a contract to finish the party,” he said, adding that he was body-shamed when he wished to walk with Rahul.
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