Muhammed Arif ‘Naseem’ Khan, a distinguished Maharashtra Congress leader, has decided to withdraw from his role in the party’s campaign committee due to his dissatisfaction with the absence of Muslim candidates in the state. In a letter addressed to party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Khan expressed his reluctance to campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as no Muslim leaders were nominated within the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition.
Khan’s decision was fueled by the disappointment expressed by various Muslim organizations, leaders, and party members across Maharashtra over the lack of representation for the minority community in the Congress nominations. Many party supporters have questioned the Congress’s commitment to securing Muslim votes while failing to provide suitable candidates from the community.
In response to these concerns, Khan felt unable to justify the party’s choices to the Muslim electorate and consequently resigned from the Maharashtra Congress Campaign Committee. The Congress, aligned with the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) in the MVA opposition bloc, is competing for 17 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra.
Khan’s disappointment stems from his own desire for a ticket from Mumbai North Central, a constituency for which the party ultimately chose city unit president Varsha Gaikwad. Despite Khan’s efforts, he narrowly lost the 2019 assembly elections in Chandivali, Mumbai, by a mere 409 votes. In a subsequent statement to PTI, Khan expressed his dismay at what he perceives as a departure from the Congress’s traditional stance of inclusivity.