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Muslim legislator and senior Congress leader, Arif Aqeel spoke exclusively to The Quint, ahead of elections to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly.
The five-time winner has been pitted against BJP’s sole Muslim candidate Fatima Rasool Siddiqui. She was previously a member of the Congress party, before joining the BJP. Aqeel says that he isn’t taking Siddiqui lightly, but has also noted that she isn’t that big a challenge.
Aqeel says that he had requested the BJP to pay Rs 5 lakh to Bhopal Gas tragedy victims, but they didn’t. He further added that the BJP has failed to tackle issues like drinking water, sweage and gas afflicted settlements.
‘We had demanded 12 seats’
Only three Muslims got a ticket from the Congress in Madhya Pradesh. When asked why, Aqeel responded that they had demanded for 12 seats on his behalf, and he will ask the top leadership about this.
Congress gave one ticket to Qazi Sahab also. He must have had some compulsion why he backed out. They (Congress) should have given out more tickets.We had asked the High Command for 12 tickets. And we are surely going to ask them why they didn’t give us.Arif Aqeel, MLA
The State Assembly elections will be held on November 28 in Madhya Pradesh. And the results will come on December 11. Out of the state's 230 seats, Congress has given tickets to only 3 Muslim candidates.
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