On May 22, the Congress-ruled Karnataka State Government issued an order to cancel the nomination of State Waqf Board Chairman Maulana NK Muhammad Shafi Saadi with immediate effect. The nomination of three other members named Mir Azhar Hussain, G Yakub and IAS Officer Zehara Nassem has been cancelled as well.
The order came at a time when Maulana Saadi was pushing the state government to elect a Muslim as Deputy CM. He had alleged that there was a pre-poll agreement between Congress and Muslims. Furthermore, Saadi said Congress won the Karnataka elections because of Muslim consolidation.
Saadi demanded high-profile ministries for Muslims including the Deputy CM post
A day after the Karnataka Assembly Election results were announced, Saadi demanded that a Muslim should get the post of deputy chief minister in Karnataka from the winning candidates of the community. They also demanded portfolios like Home, Revenue, Health and other departments for five Muslim MLAs. Karnataka State Waqf Board chief Shafi Saadi claimed 72 constituencies went into Congress’s hands only because of the Muslims. 15 Muslim candidates were fielded by Congress in the elections, out of which nine won.
While addressing the media, he said, “In about 72 constituencies, Congress won purely because of the Muslims. We, as a community, have given a lot to the Congress. Now it’s time we get something in return. We want a Muslim deputy chief minister and five ministers with good portfolios like Home, Revenue, and Education. It’s the responsibility of Congress to thank us for this. We held an emergency meeting in the Sunni Ulma board office to ensure all these are implemented.”
Saadi had at the time claimed that there was a pre-poll understanding that had been reached between him and the Congress party that he would canvass for Congress among the Muslim community. He had said that the Congress had assured him that the Deputy CM would be from the Muslim community. Interestingly, he had claimed that many Muslim candidates had left their constituencies, gone door to door and campaigned for Congress in other constituencies as well, focusing on the Muslim community voting for INC. He had also hinted that this was done in stealth.
It is also pertinent to note that SDPI, the political arm of banned terror outfit PFI, had extended full support to the Congress party for Karnataka elections. Earlier, they had planned to field 100 candidates, however, keeping in mind Muslim consolidation that Congress needed to win, they fielded only 15 candidates in the elections. All of them, except 1, had lost deposits leading to unbridled consolidation for Congress. They had also said that they would canvass extensively for the Muslim community to vote for Congress.
It would appear that after winning Karnataka through Muslim consolidation, if what Saad had claimed was true, Congress has summarily discarded him and clearly, backtracked on its alleged promises to its largest vote bank – the Muslim community.
