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JMC had seven Muslim councillors — all from the Congress before Monday’s defection.
A few days ago, the mayor as well as two councillors of the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation — the only other Congress-ruled municipal corporation in the state — had crossed over to the BJP, reducing Congress in a minority.
Shehnaz Qureshi and Abdul Mahida, the two Muslim councillors in JMC who have defected, were unhappy with the Congress for not giving top posts in the civic body to their community members. Both submitted their resignations as councillors on Monday.
“With help of 35,000 Muslim voters, the Congress captured the JMC. But in the past three years, all seven elected Muslim councillors have been neglected and posts such as deputy mayor and standing committee chairperson have been allowed to be held by same people. There is no point remaining in the party that does not respect us,” said Shehnaz Qureshi, also a former president of erstwhile Junagadh Nagarpalika.
They must not have been defected but purchased to make BJP's face acceptable to the Muslims. When they changed their faith line, they must have to bring some excuses as if they are the well wishers of the Muslim community but in facct they have sold out their consciousness for few lakhs.
They must not have been defected but purchased to make BJP's face acceptable to the Muslims. When they changed their faith line, they must have to bring some excuses as if they are the well wishers of the Muslim community but in facct they have sold out their consciousness for few lakhs.
