KPCC Minority Cell has new head in Abdul Jabbar

NT Correspondent

The newly-appointed KPCC Minority Cell Chairman Abdul Jabbar will take charge at a function to be held at Nalpad pavilion in Bengaluru Palace on November 16 at 10:30 am.

Disclosing this at a news conference here on Monday, Shanthinagar Congress MLA N.A. Haris said Jabbar had been a member of the Legislative Council for two terms, and had served as president of Davangere District Congress for a decade. In recognition of his services, AICC President Sonia Gandhi and AICC Minority Cell Chairman Imran Pratapgarhi, have appointed Jabbar as KPCC Minority Cell President. The party had created this cell to give preference to all castes and communities and to ensure secular politics. The Congress has been striving for the progress of Dalits, minorities and backward classes and will continue to do it, he added.

On the move by Congress MLC and former Union minister C.M. Ibrahim to distance himself from the party, Haris replied, “I don’t know whether Ibrahim has his foot outside the party or not as it is his personal decision which I will not question. My task is to unite all leaders and work together. In a democracy, anyone can  share his/her opinion or  express unhappiness. The Congress has a minority cell which will take care of such issues. Ibrahim is our leader and no minority leader has been meted out injustice in the Congress. We are getting all facilities. I am a Congress MLA myself. Leaders may have divergent opinions but all of us are united”.

He dismissed former CM H.D.Kumaraswamy’s statement that Opposition leader Siddaramaiah has  finished off the political career of many minority leaders, and said people have seen who ‘finished’ Muslim leaders and who  gave them posts. Leaders openly express their views in the Congress because of the freedom of speech available to them which is not the case in the BJP, he said.

Jabbar said  Siddaramaiah, KPCC President D.K. Shivakumar, Opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, former Union minister K.H. Muniyappa, AICC Minority Cell Chairman Imran, leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council S.R.Patil and others will be attending the function on November 16. In the entire state, minority community leaders have been elected only from seven places and two MLCs belong to these communities. Along with Muslims,  leaders of Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and other communities must also be elected to the Legislature, he said.