No place for Muslims in Congress, alleges MLA Zeeshan Siddique
Mumbai(PTI): MLA Zeeshan Siddique who was sacked as president of the Mumbai Youth Congress two days ago alleged on Thursday that Muslims have no place in the party.
Speaking at a press conference here, Siddique, MLA from Vandre East, also claimed that the Congress had the worst communalism among all parties and he faced harassment because of his religion.
"I won't say I will remain in the Congress, but I will discuss my political options with my supporters (first)," said Siddique whose father and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique recently quit the party and joined the Ajit Pawar-led NCP.
He did not receive any official communication about being removed as the Mumbai Youth Congress chief, he claimed.
"I have been repeatedly saying that even though my father Baba Siddique joined the NCP, I will remain with the Congress, but still action was taken against me," Zeeshan said.
He bagged 90 percent votes in the election for the Mumbai Youth Congress president's post, and still the party took nine months to appoint him to the post, he said, adding, "I was harassed a lot because I am a Muslim."
"Muslims have no place in the Congress. In Mumbai and Karnataka, two Muslim candidates won Youth wing elections but it took nearly a year for them to get the post in both cases," he said.
Zeeshan also said he felt bad about the Congress being in alliance with the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray (as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi), when Thackeray, at a solidarity rally of the alliance in Mumbai, praised the demolition of Babri mosque.
Rahul Gandhi was doing good work but his team was "extremely corrupt," he alleged.
VIDEO | Here’s what Congress leader Zeeshan Siddique (@zeeshan_iyc) said at a press briefing after being removed as the president of the Mumbai Youth Congress earlier today.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 22, 2024
“I want to speak about what is happening with minorities in the Congress party. The counting of votes (in… pic.twitter.com/8iIc4uPq1y
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Double-decker electric bus gutted in fire at Kurla BEST depot
Mumbai (PTI): An empty double-decker electric bus was gutted in a fire during servicing at a BEST depot in Mumbai's Kurla area on Sunday, officials said, adding that nobody was injured.
The blaze broke out inside the Kurla BEST bus depot near Kanakia Building at 4.14 pm, according to preliminary information from the Mumbai Fire Brigade.
The parked bus was unoccupied at the time of the incident.
Fire brigade personnel rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control. The exact cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained, they said.
No injuries were reported in the incident, officials added.
The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking has hired 50 electric double-decker buses from Switch Mobility in its fleet of around 2,700 buses.
