Fearing that the Congress’ support base among adivasi, dalit and minorities in Madhya Pradesh is eroding, former Union minister Aslam Sher Khan said these stakeholders perceive that the party is practising “political apartheid” with them.
In a letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Mr Khan, a former hockey Olympian, said for the past few months, he has been travelling the length and breadth of Madhya Pradesh, meeting a variety of stakeholders of the Congress, especially those from the adivasi, dalit and minority segments.
“The ground reality is that these segments feel very insecure in their support base for the party. They claimed that they already suffer great social and economical discrimination in society and politically, things are not much better,” he said.
“As a Congressman, it was quite distressing to learn that a significant portion of these stakeholders perceive the Congress party as practising ‘political apartheid’ whereby adivasi, dalits, weaker section and minorities have been segregated into mere vote-banks and have deliberately kept them politically disempowered. This perception can be very dangerous for the party’s future,” he added.
He wanted the party high command to address such issues and resolve them without delay.
Mr Khan wrote the letter to Mrs Gandhi ahead of the state Assembly polls with the hope that the leadership would take corrective steps.
In the same letter, Mr Khan said that the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections are at the doorstep and present an opportunity to wrestle power back from the BJP. “However, it will not be easy to seize this opportunity as the party needs to overcome many hurdles. The need of the hour is to show solidarity amongst the rank and file of the party and at the same time, be tactful.”
“Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has voiced this concern many times,” he said.
and reminded us that the political system remains closed and we should work towards opening it up for the deprived and underprivileged,” he said.