1. Home
  2. Azharuddin keen to contest 2019 polls from Secunderabad

Azharuddin keen to contest 2019 polls from Secunderabad

Agencies
July 15, 2018

New Delhi, Jul 15: After contesting the last two Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, Congress leader and former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin is keen to fight the 2019 polls from his home state Telangana's Secunderabad constituency.

Azhar, who won the Lok Sabha election from Moradabad (Uttar Pradesh) in 2009 but lost in 2014 from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur (Rajasthan), said the final decision from where he would contest would be taken by the Congress high command, but he has conveyed his desire to fight from Secunderabad to the party.

In an interview to PTI, Azhar said he contested from Moradabad and then moved to Tonk as he was "not the sort of person who likes to play safe".

Azhar said he is keen to contest from Secunderabad as a lot of people have told him that he should fight from his own state this time.

"I have visited so many places and villages in the constituency and spoken with farmers and other people, they all welcomed me to contest from there," he said.

"I have conveyed my feelings (to the party and the leaders in-charge of the state). At the end of the day, the party is the supreme power. I am not the captain (here), if I were the captain, I would have chosen the constituency right away," the 55-year-old cricketer-turned-politician said.

On his chances of winning from Secunderabad, Azhar said he does not think of winning and losing as he was motivated by the opinion of the people.

"I want to work for the people there (Secunderabad). I have worked very hard in the constituency, but I don't believe in publicity," said Azhar, who hails from Hyderabad, whose twin city is Secunderabad.

"What I gathered from my party is that, they are also keen that I go there (Secunderabad)," he said.

The Congress' Telangana unit last year had urged Azhar to contest either the state assembly polls or the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, from the state.

Asked if contesting from Tonk in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls was a mistake, he answered in the negative.

Azhar said that what happened with Moradabad was that in the assembly elections in 2012, there was an issue with ticket distribution and a lot of workers went away to different parties, so that was the reason for not contesting from there.

He said he gave a good fight from the Rajasthan seat and so it was not a mistake.

"You can't play safe all the time. I am not the sort of person who likes to play safe," he said.

Asked what made him choose Congress when he took the plunge into politics, Azhar said, "I wanted to join the Congress as it is a secular party. Also, I had great respect for Mr Rajiv Gandhi."

Azhar said the farmers' problems and difficulties caused by GST and demonetisation were the most important issues that needed to be addressed and claimed that there was resentment against the central government in rural areas over these issues.

Bandaru Dattatreya of the BJP is the sitting MP from Secunderabad.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 12,2020

Patna, Jan 12: Prashant Kishor, national vice-president of the Janata Dal (United), a key ally of the BJP-led NDA, has thanked Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and former AICC chief Rahul Gandhi for their support in opposing CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and NRC (National Register of Citizens).

Perceived as one of the closest associates of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is also the party’s national president, PK (as Prashant is fondly called) also assured the two top Congress leaders that the contentious legislation would not be implemented in Bihar where JD (U) is ruling the State with the support of the BJP.

“I join my voice with all to thank #Congress leadership for their formal and unequivocal rejection of #CAA_NRC. Both @rahulgandhi and @priyankagandhi deserve special thanks for their efforts on this count….also would like to reassure to all – CAA/NRC won’t be implemented in Bihar,” tweeted PK on Sunday.

The development assumes significance as a day back, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, chaired by Sonia Gandhi, had strongly opposed CAA/NRC/NPR as it was aimed at “sinister design of the present regime to divide Indian people into religious lines.”

The latest tweet by PK is also being seen as a rebuff to the BJP, which again recently reiterated that “the BJP should project its own chief ministerial candidate during the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections.”

The JD (U) had taken umbrage over such provocative statements by BJP leaders and asked the saffron camp to rein in its ‘loudmouths’ as BJP chief Amit Shah had already made it clear that the next Assembly polls in Bihar would be fought under the leadership of Nitish.

Of late, PK has been quite vocal about his opposition to the Centre’s policies, particularly the contentious issues of NRC and CAA. Besides, he even dubbed senior BJP leader Sushil Modi as the man who became Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister due to ‘circumstances’ as the BJP was decisively decimated during the 2015 Assembly elections.

Nitish never reprimanded PK for his jibe against Modi, thereby giving rise to speculations whether Bihar was again heading for a political churning ahead of Assembly polls slated for October this year.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 15,2020

Jammu, Jan 15: Fresh landslides kept the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway shut for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, leaving over 5000 vehicles stranded.

"There were four fresh landslides in Digdol and Panthiyal belts on the highway in Ramban district. The traffic on the highway remained closed for the third day today", a police officer told PTI.

On Monday, heavy rains triggered shooting of stones in Moumpassi, Digdole and Panthiyal areas, forcing a suspension of the traffic, the official said.

Snowfall in Kashmir side of the highway, including Jawahar Tunnel, since Sunday has resulted in blockade of the highway.

"No fresh traffic was allowed from Nagrota in Jammu for Kashmir", he said.

As a result of the blockade of the highway, over 5000 vehicles remained stranded at various places en route from Lakhanpur in Kathua district to Banihal belt of Ramban district and also on the Kashmir side.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
August 3,2020

Aug 3: Iqbal Ansari, who was a litigant in the Ayodhya land dispute case, has decided to gift a 'Ram nami' stole and a copy of the Ramcharitmanas to Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he attends the bhoomi pujan ceremony for the Ram temple here on Wednesday.

"Yes, I have received the invitation from Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for the bhoomi pujan ceremony. I will certainly attend it. The dispute is over now after the court's verdict," Ansari, 69, told .

"Our Prime Minister is coming. I will meet him and give him a 'Ramnami' stole (with Ram's name written on it) and Ramcharitmanas as a present," Ansari said.

His father Hashim Ansari, the oldest litigant in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute case, died at the age of 95 in 2016 after which the son started pursuing the case in the court.

Talking about Wednesday's ground-breaking ceremony to mark the beginning of the construction of a grand Ram temple here, Ansari said, "I belong to Ayodhya. All this (temple's construction) will change the fate of Ayodhya. We all want our child to get better opportunities".

He further said, "I respect sadhus and saints. I am happy to have received the invitation for the ceremony. I think it is Lord Ram's will that I attend it".

When asked what he would have done had the court decided the case in his favour, Ansari said he had wanted the construction of a school and a hospital on the disputed land.

"I feel the city needs development. The future of our children should be safe and secure and they should get employment. Dispute in the name of religion should end now and we should let the city witness a new beginning," he said.

The Supreme Court had in November last year paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple by a Trust at the disputed site of the Babri Masjid's demolition in Ayodhya, and directed the Centre to allot an alternative 5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a "prominent" place in the holy town in Uttar Pradesh.

The state government has allotted a five-acre land in Dhannipur village in Sohaval Tehsil of Ayodhya for the mosque's construction.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.