Devusinh Chauhan vows Hindu-Muslim amity

“Assalamalaikoom,” begins BJP candidate for Kheda seat Devusinh Chauhan while addressing a gathering of around 200 in Kesari village on Saturday afternoon.

The Muslim-dominated village close to the urban town of Nadiad has around 2,500 voters. In his 20-minute address, Chauhan unequivocally blames the Congress and its vote-bank politics for the decades-old Hindu-Muslim divide in society.

“Dinsha (Patel, Congress candidate) does not come to Kesara village because it is a Muslim-dominated village. Yours and Dalit votes are taken for granted by Congress. Since the time of Bahadurshah Badshah and after that in India’s freedom struggle (against Britishers) Hindus and Muslims have always stood together. They are two eyes of the country, one cannot see properly without either,” roared Chauhan.

The 49-year-old Chauhan mentions Modi and making him the prime minister once in his speech. “There has never been a decade without communal riots, barring the last one when Modi was in power. You are getting facilities in your villages. The 108 (Ambulance) driver does not ask your caste. Your (Muslims) image has been spoilt by politicians. The word ‘minority’ has emerged only in Independent India for vote-bank politics of the Congress,” he says.

A long-time Congress loyalist, Chauhan, joined the BJP in 2007. He lost to Patel by a mere 846 votes in 2009. Unlike Patel, Chauhan is eagerly reaching out to voters with folded hands, having visited as many as 65% of the 1,045 villages till now. “By polling day, we will finish covering each one of them,” his aide says.