Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy released the book “Loyalty & Legacy: 45 Years with Congress Party”, a chronicle of senior Congress leader and Telangana Government Advisor Mohammed Ali Shabbir’s long public life.
The release followed the TPCC Political Affairs Committee meeting at Gandhi Bhavan on Saturday night. Party leaders described the publication as a record of service, loyalty, and policy work that shaped minority welfare in undivided Andhra Pradesh and the Telangana era.
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka attended the event. AICC Telangana incharge Meenakshi Natarajan and TPCC President B. Mahesh Kumar Goud were present. Ministers and senior leaders joined, including Uttam Kumar Reddy, Damodar Raja Narsimha, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Jupally Krishna Rao, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, Adluri Lakshman Kumar, Konda Surekha, D. Seethakka, G. Vivek, and Vakiti Srihari. Veteran leaders V. Hanumantha Rao, K. Jana Reddy, Dr. J. Geetha Reddy, Dr. K. Keshav Rao, Balram Naik, and Anjan Kumar Yadav also attended. The gathering noted that Mohammed Ali Shabbir’s work spanned roles from municipal councillor to minister and opposition leader.
The book traces how Mohammed Ali Shabbir entered politics as a Youth Congress and NSUI activist inspired by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. His early field experience began with the 1980 Lok Sabha elections. He campaigned in Kamareddy, then part of the Medak Lok Sabha seat, for Indira Gandhi, who won decisively and returned as Prime Minister. From that period, he stayed with the Congress organisation through victories and defeats, building a profile that mixed grassroots work with party responsibilities.
The narrative links his journey to successive phases of Congress leadership – Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. It records instances when he defended the party leadership. He was jailed after protesting against derogatory remarks made by a TDP minister about Rajiv Gandhi. He later faced ED questioning in a matter concerning Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. In 1997, he survived a Naxalite assassination attempt in Machareddy while unveiling statues of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Five Congress workers died in that attack. The book treats these as episodes that tested conviction and personal courage.
Bridge Of Continuity: Mohammed Ali Shabbir’s Policy Track
During his first stint as minister between 1989 and 1994, Mohammed Ali Shabbir served under Chief Ministers Dr. Marri Chenna Reddy and Dr. Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy. In 1993, he created the country’s first Minority Welfare Department. The move brought the Waqf Board, Urdu Academy, Haj Committee, and the Minorities Finance Corporation under one umbrella. For 1993–94, the government earmarked Rs. 2 crore for minority welfare. Leaders at the event called the step a template later adopted by other states and, subsequently, reflected at the national level with the formation of the Ministry of Minority Affairs in 2006.
On August 25, 1994, the Congress government issued GO MS No. 30, proposing reservations for 14 backward castes, including Muslims, Kapus, Telagas, and Balijas. The order did not take effect because the Congress lost power the same year, and the Puttuswamy Commission did not submit a report despite extensions. Nevertheless, the GO signalled the formal start of the party’s push on social justice in Andhra Pradesh. The book situates that decision as groundwork for later measures.
His second ministerial term, from 2004 to 2009 under Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, focused on implementation. In 2004, the government issued an order granting 5% reservation for Muslims, later readjusted to 4% after judicial scrutiny. The measure became a turning point. According to the book, the policy has impacted over 20 lakh students and job aspirants in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The tenure also launched English medium residential schools and junior colleges for minorities, expanded scholarships and hostels, and introduced mass marriages for poor Muslim girls, a program now known as Shaadi Mubarak. As NRI Affairs Minister, he arranged repatriation for stranded Gulf workers and set up an attestation centre in the Secretariat to ease migration procedures.
The book devotes chapters to his time in opposition. As Leader of Opposition in the Telangana Legislative Council, he challenged the BRS government led by K. Chandrashekhar Rao. He focused on minority welfare execution, farmer issues, and governance benchmarks. The text notes that despite numbers stacked against Congress, Mohammed Ali Shabbir kept the party’s positions visible through debates and interventions in the Upper House. The record positions him as an organiser who tried to maintain party voice during lean years.
Rival parties sought his crossover more than once. The TDP and later the BRS reportedly offered cabinet berths. He declined those options and stayed with Congress. Out of 45 years, he spent 17 in power and 28 in opposition. The authors label this balance as evidence of long-haul loyalty rather than short-term political calculation. The book states that the choice to remain reinforced party continuity during phases of churn.
Former minister K. Jana Reddy wrote the preface. He recalled serving alongside Mohammed Ali Shabbir as cabinet colleagues and, later, as parallel Leaders of Opposition – he in the Assembly and Shabbir in the Council. The foreword frames the career as an argument that character drives durable politics. The presence of senior leaders at the release underscored that reading.
Shabbir Ali is a pillar of Congress in Telangana: CM Revanth
At the event, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy praised the body of work. He referred to Mohammed Ali Shabbir as a pillar of Congress in Telangana and pointed to the 4% reservation as a policy with lasting effect. Leaders called the volume more than a biography. They said it doubles as a record of the party’s social justice trajectory and the institutional building that began in the early 1990s.
The organisers placed the release in a broader context. They said “Loyalty & Legacy: 45 Years with Congress Party” documents the evolution of minority welfare instrumentation, the consolidation of related institutions, and continuity of approach from Andhra Pradesh into Telangana. They also said the book captures the political pressures around reservations, the legal scrutiny that reshaped the percentage, and the sustained demand for access to education and employment among backward sections.
The concluding sections revisit the 1997 attack, the ED questioning, and the protests linked to Rajiv Gandhi. The editors present these episodes as reminders that political careers can face coercive tests as well as institutional tasks. The Gandhi Bhavan release therefore doubled as an endorsement of long-term party work. For attendees, the book marked a junction of biography, policy history, and organisational memory centred on Mohammed Ali Shabbir.
Hon’ble CM Shri @Revanth_Anumula released my book “Loyalty & Legacy: 45 Years with Congress Party” at Gandhi Bhavan, Hyderabad, in the presence of senior leaders and colleagues.
This journey reflects unwavering loyalty to Congress and commitment to social justice.… pic.twitter.com/mX536s5rAt
— Mohammad Ali Shabbir (@mohdalishabbir) August 24, 2025
