Hyderabad, April 25: Advisor to Telangana Government and former minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir has made it clear the Congress party was not having an alliance with any party, including Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), in Telangana in the Lok Sabha elections.

He was speaking after the inauguration of Hyderabad Lok Sabha candidate Mohammed Waliullah Sameer's central election office at Chaderghat in Hyderabad on Thursday evening. AICC Secretary Rohit Chowdhary and other senior leaders participated in the programme.

Shabbir Ali said that the Congress party was contesting the elections from all 17 Lok Sabha constituencies with equal vigour and seriousness. Therefore, there was no question of having any alliance or understanding with any party. He said that the Congress party would expose MIM's failures in resolving the problems being faced by the people of Hyderabad, especially in the Old City.

"We will approach the people with the agenda of development. The old city of Hyderabad remained backward and could not match the pace with which other parts have developed. A false impression has been created that Old City cannot be developed further. Congress party will come up with solutions to resolve the long pending problems in all the areas of the Old City," he said.

Stating that the previous Congress regime had developed Hyderabad during its rule from 2004-2014, Shabbir also accused the previous BRS regime of completely neglecting the Old City of Hyderabad. He reminded that in 2014, KCR had promised to shift Chanchalguda Jail and Malakpet Race Course and construct educational institutions at those places. However, the promise remained unfilled. Similarly, the Old City Metro Rail project was kept pending for ten years by the BRS Govt. But after the Congress party came to power, within 100 days, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy laid the foundation for the Old City Metro Rail. CM Revanth also started works on the Musi Riverfront Project. He promised that the Congress Govt would also construct the IT Towers in Malakpet. He said Old City will be given special attention as CM Revanth Reddy has clearly said this is Asli Hyderabad.

Shabbir Ali said that the present Congress Govt was pro-poor, and it implemented five out of six guarantees it gave to the people. He said the Congress Govt is giving gas cylinders for Rs 500 to poor families; Free electricity up to 200 units is being provided; Women are getting free travel in RTC buses; Under Indramma Indlu, poor families will get land and Rs 5 lakh for construction, and the Aarogyasri amount has been increased to Rs 10 lakh. He said thousands of people were unable to receive the benefits of government schemes due to a lack of ration cards. He said that the Congress Government would issue new ration cards and pensions after the conclusion of the Lok Sabha elections.

He said the Congress Government would strive to eradicate poverty and illiteracy from the Old City of Hyderabad in the next five years. He appealed to the people to elect Sameer Waliullah with a huge majority to ensure their voice gets heard in the Parliament.

Shabbir Ali also condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for targetting the 4% Muslim reservation being implemented in the Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. He said the then Congress Government, headed by Chief Minister Dr YS Rajashekhara Reddy, implemented 4% reservation not on the basis of religion but socio-economic backwardness. He said a 4% quota was given to 14 socially and economically backward groups among Muslims without touching the quota of SC, ST and OBC. Further, he said the reservation is under implementation in both the States on a stay given by the Supreme Court. Therefore, calling 4% Muslim reservation unconstitutional is a direct attack on the decision of the Supreme Court.

He said that the final decision on the 4% Muslim reservation would be taken by the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court, and neither PM Modi nor Amit Shah has the power to scrap it. He said he would lodge a contempt petition against Modi and Shah for their provocative comments against the Muslim reservation. (eom)