Karnataka: Protest held demanding Cabinet berth for Cong leader Zameer Ahmed Khan

Hubballi,

Members of the minority community on Friday staged a protest in the city demanding that MLA B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan be inducted into the newly formed Cabinet led by Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar. The protesters gathered at Indipump Circle here, alleging that the minority community had been treated unfairly. Raising slogans, they urged the government to grant a ministerial berth to Khan, who had earlier served as Minister for Housing, Waqf, and Minority Welfare in the Siddaramaiah cabinet.

The protesters demanded that Khan be given either the post of Deputy CM or a Cabinet berth. They warned the Congress leadership that the party would face serious consequences in the next Assembly elections if their demand was not met. The protest comes two days after Muslim religious leaders and clerics in Karnataka demanded that five members from the community be accommodated in the state Cabinet, asserting that the Congress came to power with the support of Muslim voters.

The demand was raised at a gathering of Muslim leaders and clerics at the Hazrat Syed Fateh Shah Wali Dargah in Bellinagar here on Wednesday evening, where special prayers were also offered. A call was also made for the induction of senior Congress leaders, including Zameer Ahmed Khan, N A Harris, Tanveer Sait, and Saleem Ahmed, into the ministry.