Maharashtra Congress leader and former state minister Arif (Naseem) Khan has declined the role of star campaigner for the party in the upcoming Lok Sabha election due to the Congress coalition’s decision not to field a single Muslim candidate in the state. In a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Khan expressed his disappointment and stated that he has no answers for the Muslim community, leading him to resign from the campaign committee for the third, fourth, and fifth phases of the Maharashtra Lok Sabha election in 2024.
This move underscores the growing frustration among Muslim leaders and voters in Maharashtra. Khan’s resignation follows a pattern of dissatisfaction among Muslim leaders in the Congress party. Recently, Baba Siddique, another prominent Muslim leader, left the Congress and joined Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), citing alleged ‘Muslim apathy’ within the Congress. Siddique compared his treatment to that of curry leaves—used for flavor but discarded.
Khan’s letter highlights the perceived exclusion of Muslims in the Maharashtra Congress’s candidate selection process. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), a coalition of the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, and Sharad Pawar’s NCP, has not nominated a single Muslim candidate among the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. This decision has caused considerable dismay within the Muslim community.
“Many Muslim organizations, leaders, and party workers from all over Maharashtra were expecting Congress to at least nominate one candidate, but unfortunately, Congress has also not nominated a single Muslim candidate,” Khan wrote in his letter. He added that he could not answer questions from the Muslim community about the lack of representation. He cited his past contributions to the party, working across various states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and others, but explained that he could not continue under the current circumstances.
The Muslim Voter Council of India also expressed concern over the lack of Muslim candidates in a letter to Kharge, Sharad Pawar, and Uddhav Thackeray. According to the MVA’s seat-sharing arrangement, Uddhav Sena is contesting 21 seats, Congress 17, and Sharad Pawar’s NCP 10, but none of these candidates are Muslim.
Khan’s resignation and the broader discontent among Muslim leaders could impact the Congress coalition’s performance in the upcoming elections, raising questions about the representation and inclusivity within the party.
