‘Unhappy’ Mohammad Azharuddin may quit Congress to join TRS

Cricketer-turned-politician Mohammad Azharuddin may quit Congress and join the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) soon.

According to a report published in ThePrint, Azharuddin is extremely unhappy with the treatment meted out to him by the party’s Telangana leadership.

ThePrint also quoted Senior Congress leader Abid Rasool Khan as saying, “Azharuddin had conveyed his displeasure at the way he was being treated and that the high command wasn’t stepping in to defuse the tension.”

“Azharuddin and I faced similar insults in the screening meeting. His candidature was met with resistance, so much so that his contribution was questioned,” he added.

It is to be noted that Abid Rasool Khan recently quit the Congress after 32 years to join the TRS.

According to the sources, Azharuddin wanted to contest next month’s Telangana assembly elections from Secunderabad. However, his proposal faced stiff resistance from senior Congress leaders.

Anjan Kumar Yadav, president of the Greater Hyderabad City Congress, stood up during the meeting to screen candidates and announced that he would contest from Secunderabad instead. Yadav also reportedly challenged Azharuddin to contest from Old Hyderabad, which is the stronghold of Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM.

Sources also stated that Azharuddin was unhappy about the way the national party had sidelined leaders from the minority communities, especially Muslims.

Azharuddin entered politics in 2009 and was elected as MP from Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh. In 2014, he lost the Lok Sabha polls from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan.

Also Read: Telangana elections 2018: 32-year-old transgender files nomination paper