AIMIM, TRS stay away from Patil's meet

Hyderabad, July 6 (UNI) Upset with United Progressive Alliance-Left parties combine Presidential candidate Pratibha Patil's controversial remarks on the origin of the 'Purdah' (veil) system in the country, the All India Majilis-E-Itihadul Muslimeen, a friendly party of the Congress, stayed away from the meeting addressed by her.

Though the Congress had also extended invitation to the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), it also did not attend the joint-meeting of the MPs and MLAs from Andhra Pradesh, which has significant number of votes in the electoral college for the Presidential elections.

The Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), which has five MLAs and an MP has announced that it would abstain from voting in the July 19 presidential elections dejected over Ms Patil's remarks on the purdah system.

Dissatisified with her clarification, the AIMIM maintained that the remarks were unwarranted and amounted to interference in the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat).

Later, in a chat with reporters, AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh expressed the hope that all secular parties would vote for her.

The TRS, which quit the UPA on the demand for creating a separate Telangana state, is unlikely to vote for the UPA candidate as it would send a wrong signal to the people of Telangana, who were angry with the Congress party for 'dily-dallying' on formation of seprate Telangana state.

Mr Singh opined that the TRS had lost a golden opportunity to pursue the goal of statehood for Telangana by quitting the UPA.

CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury, who was in the city, failed to turn up for the meeting citing preoccupation with the meeting of the Party State unit.

The Presidential candidate along with a host of Congress leaders, including All India Congress spokeswoman Jayanthi Natarajan and AICC General Secetary incharge of Andhra Pradesh Digvijay Singh, waited long after the meeting for a delegation of the CPI(M) led by its MP Madhu and State Legislature Party leader N Narasimaiah to call on Ms Patil and exchange greetings.

UNI