After having addressed a gathering at a Hindu village close to Deedwara, some 200 km west of Jaipur, Yunus Khan went for offer afternoon prayers at a mosque. The Muslim leader is the BJP’s candidate from the rural Deedwara assembly seat.
Khan and his counterpart, Habib-ur-Rehman, the BJP candidate from Nagore, are both devout Muslims. Their mobile phone numbers end with the 786 — a numerical substitute to “In the name of Allah’’. And the vehicles in Khan’s convoy, which carry his followers for door-to-door campaigning, not only showcase BJP flags, but the vehicles windshield also sports Quranic verses. Unlike their peers elsewhere, particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the two leaders don’t feel ex-communicated.
The BJP is fielding four Muslim candidates for the 200-member assembly in Rajasthan. Apart from Khan and Rehman, the other two are Abdul Sageer Khan from Dholpur and debutant Salim Tanwar from Mandawa. The ruling Congress has put up 16 Muslims candidates, many of whom are lightweights or up against bigger personalities or are in the fray simply to divide the Muslim vote.
BJP Minority Morcha chairman, Amin Pattan, said that he would have liked eight Muslim candidates. “We were expecting about seven to eight seats for the community this time. But it is the party’s decision,” he said.
Social activist and editor of a local weekly in Deedwara, Abrar Ahmed, tells dna that instead of ganging up against the BJP, Rajasthan’s Muslims are keen on sending as many representatives from the community as possible to the assembly. Muslims make up more than nine per cent of the state’s population. “Here the crop of Muslims in the most right-wing party are aware of their duties and remain connected to the community,” says Ahmed. “This is unlike the BJP’s Muslim faces elsewhere, where they remain just showboys and are pushed up the ladder by castigating their community in a bid to appear more loyal to party seniors.”
Some 40 km away, in Nagore’s Gandhi Chowk, a dozen Muslim youth argue that they need a godfather to address their day-to-day issues, save them from police harassment and bring in effective administration so work gets done. Yunus Khan and Habib-ur-Rehman may well be the people they are looking for. “Both these candidates (Khan and Rehman) have powerful Muslim backing and are likely to sail through,” says Qyamudin Qureshi, in Khonkana village.”
“Muslims should vote for the sake of their development and not isolate themselves,” Yunus Khan tells dna during his campaign trail in Bawed village. “That is the only way to address insecurity.”
For the Deedwara seat, Khan is banking on 43,000 votes of Muslims and 7,000 votes of Rajput, who are BJP’s core voters, to defeat his rival, Congress’ Chetan Dudi.
In Nagore, Rehman, who has been with the BJP for the last five years, invokes Raje’s legacy. The former chief minister had helped build mosques and dargahs and awarded funds for computerisation of madrassas. Like Khan, Rehman too calls on Muslims to not fear (Narendra) Modi, and instead points out at Muslim localities to make apparent the Congress’ indifferent treatment over the last 60 years.
Unfortunately for Rehman, the BJP’s internal bickering is at the fore in Nagore, where the Muslim electorate comprises 48,000 voters. Local Jat leaders, including senior office bearers, are working overtime for Rehman’s defeat by favouring Congress-rebel candidate Harinder Mirda, who comes from a powerful Jat family.
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