Clamour for fielding Muslim candidate on Cong ticket from Nagpur Central

Nagpur: As Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) working president Arif Naseem Khan reached the city to interview potential candidates for the 12 assembly seats in Nagpur and Ramtek, the minority cell of the Grand Old Party has sought at least one seat for a Muslim candidate in Nagpur.Congress party sources indicate that the Nagpur Central seat, a predominantly Muslim majority area, is likely to be allocated to a Muslim this time.Of the over 30 applications submitted for this seat, six Muslims have emerged as strong contenders. The aspirants include former bar council chairman Adv Asif Qureshi, banker and academician Moin Quazi, Mahila Congress functionary Nash Nusrat Ali, former chairman of Hazrat Tajudinbaba Trust Sheikh Hussain, ex-secretary of Central Tanzeem Committee Abdul Kalam and Shadab Khan Naidu.In the previous assembly election, Congress' Bunty Shelke narrowly lost by over 4,000 votes to BJP's Vikas Kumbhare. Notably, Nagpur Central also has a sizable Halba community voter base. However, Shelke's defeat was primarily attributed to AIMIM's Abdul Patle, who garnered over 8,500 votes.Former state cabinet minister Anees Ahmed has been a three-time MLA from Nagpur Central before he switched to Nagpur West and lost. Surprisingly, he has not shown interest in fighting the election this time from any of the constituencies.MPCC working president Arif Naseem Khan is scheduled to conduct interviews with potential candidates from all six assembly constituencies of Nagpur Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Ironically, Khan too was expecting a Lok Sabha ticket from Mumbai North Central which eventually went to Congress' Varsha Gaikwad. The party pacified Khan by appointing him as invited member in CWC.Ateeque Qureshi, general secretary of Maharashtra Congress minority cell, said the actual demand is for two seats from the six Nagpur constituencies. "Congress fielded no Muslim candidate from Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha election. While a Muslim candidate must be fielded from Nagpur Central, the party should also consider fielding one more candidate from the community elsewhere in Nagpur. This demand is based on the community's widespread support during the Lok Sabha election," he asserted.It is estimated that approximately 4 lakh voters from the Muslim community cast their votes for the Congress in the Lok Sabha election from Nagpur.Qureshi emphasized that currently the community lacks fair representation. "A non-Muslim was given the MLC seat after Wajahat Mirza's term ended. The community is perplexed as to whether the Congress party perceives it merely as a vote bank or is genuinely interested in allocating election tickets," he remarked.Qureshi further said that the Congress must ensure that it fields at least 25 Muslim candidates in the upcoming Maharashtra elections and guarantee their victory.BOXNagpur Central in last assembly pollVikas Kumbhare (BJP) | 75,692 votesBunty Shelke (Congress) | 71,684 votesAbdul Patel (AIMIM) | 8,565 votes
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