Was told to lose 10kg to meet Rahul: Cong leader

Days after he was removed from the post of Mumbai Youth Congress president, Zeeshan Siddiqui lashed out at the grand old party over its treatment of minorities while accusing it of being 'communal'.

"It is very unfortunate," he said on being removed from the post.

Zeeshan, the son of Baba Siddiqui who severed ties with the Congress earlier this month, alleged that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge "can't even discharge his responsibilities with full freedom" in the party.

"Malliakrjun Kharge is such a senior leader but even his hands are tied. Rahul Gandhi is doing his job but it looks as if people around him have taken a 'supari' (contract) from other parties to finish off the Congress," he alleged.

"During the previous 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in Nanded, I was told by one of the persons close to Rahul Gandhi that I should lose 10kgs before they could let me meet him," Zeeshan said.

"The treatment being meted out to minority leaders and workers in the Congress is unfortunate. The extent of communalism in the Congress and Mumbai Youth Congress is unlike anywhere else. Is it a sin to be a Muslim in the Congress? The party has to answer why am I being targeted? Is it only because I am a Muslim," Zeeshan asked.

Zeeshan was removed from the post of Mumbai Youth Congress President on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, Zeeshan's father Baba Siddiqui quit the Congress and joined the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shehzad Poonawalla said that the Congress has done the most damage to minorities.

"Today Zeeshan Siddiqui has spilled out the beans which was told by me six-seven years ago that Congress is the most anti-Muslim party. It may project for the vote bank and for appeasement's sake that it is with the minorities. But actually, it has done the most damage to minorities. Today Zeeshan Siddiqui is facing it himself. We have seen that Congress allowed riot after riot to be orchestrated. Congress party used to say that Uddhav Sena is responsible for the Mumbai riots but today they have allied with them because Congress hates Muslims," he said.

"They only keep them as their vote bank. In Congress, apart from 'Parivaar', nobody can take decisions. What Zeeshan is facing today, Congress leaders had been facing for a long time because Rahul Gandhi is promoting such a culture," Poonawalla added.