Congress asked to nominate Muslim leader from Madhya Pradesh to Rajya Sabha

BHOPAL: Muslim organisations in Madhya Pradesh today asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi to nominate a member from their community hailing from the state to the Rajya Sabha next month.

In a letter to Gandhi, the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, Madhya Pradesh president Mufti Abdul Razzaque Khan said that a member of Muslim community from the state should be nominated to the Rajya Sabha as his community members feel marginalised in the Congress.

He recalled that the Congress had nominated the late Ghufran Azam to the Upper House of parliament in 1980s from the state, but since then no candidate from their community has got berth in the Rajya Sabha.

The letter seeks to bring to the notice of the Congress chief that the BJP and the Samajwadi Party had last time nominated Najma Heptullah and Choudhary Munawwar Saleem to the Rajya Sabha, respectively.

The demand has been echoed by Madhya Pradesh Muslim Vikas Parishad (MPMVP), besides Madhya Pradesh Congress Minority department in separate letters to Gandhi.

"The filing of nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh would begin on May 24 and the last date of nomination is May 31," an official of Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly said.

The scrutiny of papers is scheduled to take place on June 1 and the last date of withdrawal of nominations is June 3, he added.

If required, the elections for the three new Rajya Sabha members - two from BJP and one from Congress - would be held on June 11.

The term of BJP's Anil Madhav Dave and Chandan Mitra and Congress' Vijay Laxmi Sadho as Rajya Sabha members is about to end.