Party to shed its ‘Muslim appeasement’ strategy to lure Hindu voters in 2019 polls
Apprehending that SP's Muslim face, Azam Khan may give leverage to the opposing BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Samajwadi Party (SP) has reportedly cautioned all its leaders, particularly those from the minority community, to 'stay silent' in case of any provocations. The party also asked its members to avoid celebrating Iftar with pomp in the coming month of Ramazaan.
The directive has also asked the leaders to not target or condemn Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the PM is known to turn criticism to his own political advantage — as in the case of Mani Shankar Aiyer's jibe of 'chaiwala' in the run up to 2014 Lok Sabha elections and the recent backlash faced by the youth Congress leader Salman Nizami after his tweet questioning Modi's family background.
The recent tie-up with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and victories in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur polls have rekindled the party's hopes to unseat BJP in Uttar Pradesh. But, the party's top brass feels that the BJP's aggressive polarisation may spoil SP's chances of winning UP.
SP chief Akhlish Yadav is more worried about his primary Muslim face, Azam Khan. The fiery leader from Rampur is always in an overdrive to emerge as the sole voice and face of the Muslim community. Khan's aggressive nature and brusque comments against the PM and other BJP leaders have often landed the party in trouble. In 2014, he urged the voters to "vote against the murderers of Muzaffarnagar," called Modi an "elder brother of a puppy," termed Amit Shah as "goonda number 1,". Additionally, in the most contentious one of all, said that "those who fought for victory in Kargil were not Hindu soldiers, in fact the ones who fought for our victory were Muslim soldiers."
Similarly, the Congress had adopted the strategy to shift to soft Hindutva to lure Hindu voters in the Gujarat Assembly elections which were held in 2017.
Toeing the Congress' strategy adopted in Gujarat, the SP is also about to shed off the "Muslim appeasement" tag in order to lure Hindu voters.
The party has also asked its Muslim leaders not to use pictures of leaders like Akhilesh or Mulayam during the Iftar parties. They have also been asked to take full advantage of the nationwide outrage against the Unnao and Kathua gang rape incidents.
IFTAR RESTRICTIONS
- The Samajwadi Party has reportedly cautioned all its leaders, particularly those from the minority community, to ‘stay silent’ in case of any provocations
- It also asked its leaders to avoid celebrating Iftar with pomp on Ramazaan in May and to not use Akhilesh or Mulayam’s poster during Iftar
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