‘What does Pakistan have to do with a Rajya Sabha poll in Karnataka?… I can understand BJP frustration’: Cong MP Syed Naseer Hussain

A PhD in International Relations from JNU, Syed Naseer Hussain, 54, is in-charge of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s office. A member of the Congress Working Committee, he has earlier held posts of national secretary and chief election authority with the Indian Youth Congress. Hailing from Bellary, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the first time in 2018.

On Tuesday, after he was elected for the second time to the Rajya Sabha, Hussain found himself embroiled in a controversy when the BJP alleged that his supporters had raised Pakistan Zindabad slogans. The BJP has disrupted the Karnataka Assembly proceedings over the issue, even after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah promised “strict action” if the claims were found to be true. The Bengaluru city police registered a suo motu case on Tuesday night over the alleged incident while the BJP has filed a formal complaint at the Vidhana Soudha Police Station. Seven people have been questioned over the matter.

Excerpts from an interview with Hussain:

The BJP has alleged that pro-Pakistan slogans were raised by your supporters after your Rajya Sabha election victory.

On Tuesday, after the victory of Congress candidates… the PCC president and other leaders, including AICC in-charge Randeep Surjewala, addressed the media at the Bengaluru Vidhan Soudha. Some of my supporters and well-wishers who had come there kept on shouting slogans like ‘Naseer Saab Zindabad’, ‘Naseer Hussain Zindabad” and “Naseer Sir Zindabad”.

The BJP and one journalist raked up an issue claiming ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans were shouted. There were more than a hundred journalists there… 15-16 of them spoke to me on the Rajya Sabha elections in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh… None of them asked me this