Senior Congress leader and chairman of the Telangana Congress Minority department, Shaik Abdullah Sohail, resigned from the party on Saturday, October 28. He decided to end his 34 year old association with the party due alleging differences with Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president (TPCC) Revanth Reddy. In his letter to Congress National president Mallikarjun Kharge, Shaik Abdullah said that Revanth Reddy turned Gandhi Bhavan, the party headquarters into a "shopping mall" by allegedly selling seats to aspiring candidates. He stated that it was extremely painful and unfortunate to work under the leadership of Revanth Reddy and called him an ‘RSS agent'. He also alleged that the party has been compromising its secular ideals and commitment to serve people to come to power.
Shaik Abdullah’s resignation, which comes just a month before the state Assembly elections, is likely to affect the party, which has been focussing on influencing the Muslim minority voters. Muslims in Telangana make up about 12.5% of the population, and in the last election, the community is believed to have backed the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which won 88 out of the 119 Assembly seats in 2018. It is to be seen whether he joins the BRS or the all India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), which has been strongly backing the BRS.
In his letter, Shaik Abdulllah expressed his dissent against Revanth Reddy, who assumed the post of TPCC chief in 2021 and stated, “He turned the Congress party into a grocery shop where people with heavy wallets could walk in and purchase any post. Today, a majority of people who are holding top positions in the party, never worked on the ground.. More than 25 candidates who switched to Congress from BRS and BJP were allocated seats because of their heavy bank balance.”
He alleged that Manickam Tagore, the then AICC Incharge, "sold" the position for Rs 50 crore to Revanth Reddy who recouped his investment by selling party positions and Assembly tickets. “The Congress High Command, particularly Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, did not address these concerns and allowed an RSS agent to disrupt the party within just two years,” he wrote.
He claimed that Revanth and his supporters will join the BJP if elected to power.
Abdullah claimed that he did not seek a ticket but alleged that tickets were allocated to the highest bidder, neglecting the hard work of the party members. He further alleged that Malakpet ticket was allotted to Shaikh Akbar, a realtor in exchange of Rs 10 crore.
However, it may be noted that other Muslim leaders in the Congress, who did not want to be quoted, said that Shaik Abdullah's departure will not make a big difference.
On October 27, the Congress unveiled its second list of 45 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections scheduled for November 30. The Congress has declared candidates for 100 out of the total 119 seats in the state. Both the lists include leaders who recently joined the Congress after the BRS released its list in August. Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, a former MLA who switched from the BJP to rejoin the Congress, has been allocated Munugode constituency. Meanwhile, former BRS leaders, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and Tummala Nageshwar Rao, will contest from Palair and Khammam seat respectively. Congress decided to field four Muslim candidates- former cricketer Azharuddin is set to contest from Jubilee Hills, while other Muslim candidates in the list include Shaik Akbar for Malakpet, Mohammed Feroz Khan for Nampally, and Osman bin Mohammed for Karwan.