Taking a prompt from their party president Rajnath Singh’s efforts to win over the Muslim electorate, the BJP’s Minority Morcha (MM) has now begun wooing Muslims of Telangana.
With attention-grabbing slogans such as ‘Muslims for Nation’, ‘Muslims for BJP’ and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s patented tagline of ‘Muslims for Development’, the saffron party has composed a 15-point agenda including the challenges faced by the community, according to the party. The agenda could find its way into the party manifesto.
The move comes after Rajnath Singh last Tuesday said that he was ready to make an apology for mistakes committed by the party in the past. He also urged the community to give the BJP a chance.
Naming the plan as ‘The Turning Point of Telangana Muslims’, the agenda prepared by BJP MM national vice-president F S Layaq Ali touches upon issues such as setting up passport offices in minority-concentrated districts, employment generation, protection of wakf properties in the new state and loans from finance corporations for poverty mitigation among others.
“The Muslim leadership in the state is poor. There is a fear psychosis being created against the BJP which is creating a rift between Muslims and the party,” Ali said. “The second wakf survey is still incomplete even after a decade whereas the survey in Madhya Pradesh was completed a long time ago along with publication of wakf gazettes. We have received the green signal to begin our campaign from our state president G Kishan Reddy,” he added.
It will be interesting that the agenda also seeks to address the issue of revising the abysmal remuneration paid to muezzins and imams of all wakf-registered mosques. Further, an amendment to the archaic and inadequate Qazi Act of 1880 would be sought.
First round meetings with the elders and intellectuals from community have by now begun in an effort to bridge the gap between the Muslims, the largest minority in the country, and the party.
According to the state BJP president and Amberpet legislator Kishan Reddy, the party believes in ‘inclusive development’. “We will soon have a meeting of Muslim businessmen with Hindu counterparts akin to the recent meet in Gujarat. We will also have Muslim intellectuals joining us. We also want a wakf task force to keep encroachers at bay. Whether we get the Muslim vote or not, we believe that the country should grow with them as we want a balanced development. We will use this in our manifesto,” Reddy said.
The party also plans to be there for participation of women in cottage industries, he added.