Hyderabad: Sanjiv Bhatt, Gujarat’s IPS officer who dared to take on the Narendra Modi government, testifying for the widespread Gujarat riots which killed thousands of Muslims, have alleged Owaisi and Imam Bukhari for indirectly helping BJP.
First Owaisi, now Imam Bukhari. As expected, the usual suspects have started their insidious manoeuvres to indirectly help the BJP! 😊
— Sanjiv Bhatt (IPS) (@sanjivbhatt) February 10, 2017
Whenever the saffron party is challenged by a number of Muslim rivals, a split in votes on communal lines helps turn the tide for its candidates.
Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari on Thursday surprised many by openly urging Muslims community of Uttar Pradesh to boycott the Samajwadi Party and vote for BSP.
Does it mean the Muslim cleric in favor of the BSP and trying to indirectly help the BJP win election?
Well, going by the past record, BJP was the major beneficiary of division of minority votes and polarisation during polls.
Earlier, Asaduddin Owaisi’s MIM destroyed the chance for Congress in Maharashtra by winning two assembly seats which immensely benefited the BJP and Shiv Sena who manage a thumping victory.
The fragmentation of Muslim votes helped the two saffron parties improve their chances of substantially.
This time, too, division of Muslim (in Uttar Pradesh make around 17 percent of the population) votes might help BJP turn the tide in its favour in the high-staked UP polls.
Sanjiv Bhatt, a 1988 batch IPS officer, was under suspension since 2011 for unauthorised absence from service.
He had alleged in an affidavit in the Supreme Court that Narendra Modi, then the Chief Minister, instructed the top police officers to allow the Hindus “to vent out their anger” after the train-burning incident at Godhra in February 2002.