Broken promises, shattered trust

1. Mosques demolished in Kodangal under the cover of midnight stillness.
2. Communal tensions flaring, with attacks on madrasas turning assurances of protection into deep distrust.
3. The Minority Welfare Budget: From Rs. 2,200 crore in BRS’s last term to less than Rs. 1,600 crore under Cong —a 27% drop. Worse, even these funds remain largely unspent. 
4. Muslims in Borabanda and Jubilee Hills demanding land for a graveyard were met not with compassion but with false FIRs slapped against Masjid Committee members.
5. Minority residential schools were shut down, fee reimbursements were not granted
6. Schemes like Shaadi Mubarak were not implemented.

There is simmering discontent among Muslims in Telangana state that the Congress government has not lived up to expectations ever since it came to power in 2023.

The Muslim community stood as the decisive force in the elections. Out of 119 Assembly constituencies, Muslims form over 20% of the electorate in nearly 40 seats and are pivotal in at least 15 constituencies spread across Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Nizamabad, Adilabad, and Mahbubnagar districts. In areas such as Nampally, Bahadurpura, Karwan, Chandrayangutta, Malakpet, Charminar, and Jubilee Hills, the Muslim vote remains a game-changer.

Across Telangana, Muslims constitute 12% of the population—nearly 45 lakh people. In the 2023 elections, they threw their weight behind the Congress Party, buoyed by its promises: an exclusive Minority Declaration, increased budget allocations for minority welfare, protection of waqf lands, dignity for mosques and madrasas, overseas scholarships for Muslim students, and, above all, enhanced political representation.

This was no small gamble. For decades, the Muslim vote had oscillated between the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Congress, and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). But in 2023, Muslims—especially outside Hyderabad—decisively backed Congress. That shift proved historic: Congress captured 65 out of 119 seats, enough to form the government, while BRS slipped to 39, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed only 8, and AIMIM retained its traditional 7. Without this Muslim consolidation, Congress would not have crossed the magic figure of 60.

Suppression of Muslim Leadership

Mohammed Shabbir Ali, the architect of the 4% Muslim reservation, sacrificed his Kamareddy seat for Revanth Reddy in 2023. Without his sacrifice, there would be no Revanth Reddy as Chief Minister. But after victory, he was denied both MLC and ministerial posts—relegated to a powerless “Advisory” role. His sacrifice was repaid with insult.

Amer Ali Khan, Executive Editor of Siasat, mobilized Urdu-speaking voters for Congress. His name was pushed for a Governor’s Quota MLC seat. Instead of recognition, he was deliberately trapped in litigation when the matter was pending in the High Court. Subsequently, clubbed with Prof. Kodandram, he was sworn in on the basis of a quashed Gazette and is now judicially suspended by the Supreme Court. Far from empowerment, he became a pawn in Congress’s legal manipulations. His name is not being considered for renomination, for reasons better known to the party.

Mohammed Azharuddin, cricket legend, former MP, and Working President of Telangana Congress, was the natural fit for the Jubilee Hills Assembly seat, where Muslims form 35% of the electorate. Sympathy favored him after his 2023 defeat. By every logic of representation, he should have been fielded again. Instead, possibly at the behest of AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi—who does not want any rival Muslim leader to rise—Congress shifted him into the litigation-ridden MLC path. His rightful candidature for Jubilee Hills was robbed, and his political career neutralized.

Together, Shabbir Ali, Amer Ali Khan, and Azharuddin symbolize three faces of betrayal: sacrifice unrewarded, faith entrapped, and opportunity denied. It is as if all three were deliberately sacrificed (halal) at the manipulative political altar, offered up to satisfy Congress's convenience and the appeasement of AIMIM.

Serious doubts over Congress relationship with the Muslims

Several Congress leaders from the Muslim community are questioning whether the party is implementing the BJP’s agenda by side-lining Muslim leadership in Telangana. While the BJP faces national criticism for marginalizing minorities, the Congress-led state government appears to be following a similar path.

Leaders allege that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has politically weakened Muslim voices—by humiliating Shabbir Ali, targeting Amer Ali Khan, and sidelining Azharuddin. They also cite neglect in key appointments and nominated posts as further evidence of systemic exclusion.

This raises a troubling question: Is secular Congress in Telangana quietly advancing the same disempowerment project that the BJP is accused of at the national level?

In today’s polarized politics, such actions blur opposition lines and turn minority concerns into political trade-offs. For Telangana’s Muslims, this stirs deep anxiety about their role in the state's power structure.

Is Congress having a tacit agreement with AIMIM?

Congress Muslim leaders allege that the thread linking these events is AIMIM. “Congress acts like a junior partner dancing to Owaisi’s tunes. AIMIM’s goal is to block any Muslim leadership outside its control—and Congress has willingly helped by weakening its own,” they said.

“Why else was no Muslim fielded in Jubilee Hills, where Muslims form 35% of voters? Why was Shabbir Ali sidelined? Why was Amer Ali Khan made a scapegoat? This isn’t secularism—it’s collusion to keep Muslim politics under AIMIM’s monopoly, with Congress enabling it.”

They accuse Congress of sacrificing ideological principles for electoral gain. By yielding space to AIMIM in Hyderabad, the party may gain short-term peace but risks long-term alienation. Analysts say Revanth Reddy is trying to balance a high command wary of minority politics with local political realities.

Congress Muslim leaders lament that Amer Ali Khan’s nomination, once hailed as a symbol of minority empowerment, has been exposed by the courts as mere tokenism based on constitutional fraud. Now, Mohammed Azharuddin faces a similar fate, dragged into the legal tangle of the Governor’s Quota case pending in the Supreme Court.

They ask: If the Revanth Reddy government could easily nominate Mahesh Goud, Balmuri Venkat, Addanki Dayakar, Vijayashanti, Shankar Naik, and Satyam as MLCs under the MLA quota, why were Muslim leaders excluded from these secure positions and instead pushed into uncertain, litigation-prone roles?

The contrast is stark—others enjoy guaranteed posts, while Muslim leaders face legal battles and political sidelining.

Leaders warn that history will remember how Congress gained power through Muslim trust, only to betray it. The pressing question now: In the upcoming Jubilee Hills by-election, will Muslims forgive—or trust—Congress again?

Revanth killing many birds with one stone

1. Eliminating Muslim leadership.

2. Pleasing internal BJP bosses to avoid cases.

3. Checkmating Rahul Gandhi from thinking of a leadership change in Telangana Congress, lest he align with others.

4. Sealing friendship with Owaisi.

5. Still taking credit if Congress wins the Jubilee Hills by-polls, silencing senior Congress leaders in the state.

The overall view is that Congress has side-lined Muslims, which may affect the Jubilee Hills by-poll and elect the BRS candidate on the basis of the lady sympathy factor, possible increases in real estate assets for citizens, and laying the foundation for a KTR era. We need to wait and watch the electoral results of the by-election in November, which may lead to revised alliances, the emergence of new parties, and fresh strategies for future political battles.