Congress denies report of Azharuddin joining TRS

Hyderabad, Jan 2 (IANS) The Congress party on Wednesday dismissed reports that Working President of its Telangana unit and former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin is joining ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Minorities Department Chairman Shaik Abdullah Sohail said Azharuddin spoke to him and denied reports that appeared in a section of media about his likely exit from Congress to join TRS.According to reports in a section of media, Azharuddin is likely to contest from Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency as a TRS candidate.The former cricketer, who was elected to Lok Sabha from Muradabad in 2009, was appointed Working President of TPCC in November last year and he campaigned for the party in the last month's Assembly elections.Azharuddin was earlier quoted as saying that he wants to contest from Secunderabad on a Congress ticket. However, he faced opposition from party leader Anjan Kumar Yadav, who had earlier represented this seat.Sohail condemned the TRS for spreading rumours about many Congress leaders. He pointed out that a section of media has been publishing stories on likelihood of some Congress MLAs joining TRS."Similarly, they took the name of Azharuddin to float some baseless and speculative stories in the social media which later hit the headlines of mainstream media. Azharuddin has clearly stated that he would not quit Congress," he said.
--IANS ms/prs