As the Uttar Pradesh electoral battle enters a crucial phase, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party are leading the race drafting Muslim religious leaders into their campaigns in yet another attempt to lure voters.
As the Uttar Pradesh electoral battle enters a crucial phase, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party are leading the race drafting Muslim religious leaders into their campaigns in yet another attempt to lure voters.
Congress leaders Digvijay Singh and Jagdambika Pal even knocked the doors of Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawwad, who had announced a ‘padyatra’ against the national party.
Though Prasad succeeded in convincing Maulana to postpone his march, Jawwad, who has large following among Shia Muslims, has asked his followers to teach the Congress a lesson. He is miffed at the central government for turning a blind eye to encroachments at Karbala and Shahe Mardan Dargah in Delhi.
On January 15, Shia protesters were lathi-charged when they staged protest in Delhi demanding opening of the western gate of the dargah. The police even lodged an FIR against several persons including, Shia clerics.
To blunt the edge local Shia clerics have, the Congress has lined up Sajjada Nashin of Ajmer Dargah, Maulana Ghulam Qibliya Dastgheer, Maulana Fazlur Rahim Mujaddidi of Jamiatul Hidaya and Maulana Syed Athar Hussain Dehalvi of Anjuman Minhaje Rasool in its support. Notably all of them are outsiders with the first two coming from Rajasthan and third from Delhi.
Meanwhile, the SP has mobilised local religious scholars, besides receiving support from the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmad Bhukhari. The party is also using Maulana Fazlur Rehman Waizi for its election campaigns. He leads prayers at the 350-year-old Teele Wali Masjid, one of the most prominent mosques of Sunni Muslims.
Bukhari’s son-in-law Mohammad Umar is also contesting election as a SP candidate from Behat in Saharanpur. The party has also got the support of Kalbe Hussain, son of Dr Kalbe Sadiq who is vice president of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
However, the Congress party’s major move to woo Muslim voters failed in Lucknow earlier this month, when Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh “barged” into a meeting convened by the All India Masajid Rabta Committee, a Deobandi outfit.
His sudden appearance and sharing of the dais created ruckus in the meeting, which was attended by top religious scholars and Muslim political activists Maulana Kalbe Jawwad, Maulana Salim Qasmi, Dr. Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas and Maulana Abdul Wahab Khilji.
The participants said they had no idea of Singh attending the meeting. The organisers had to pacify the participants, saying Singh’s presence would not mean their leanings towards Congress.
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