“Chah piha ke samay aayal to hotel banawae ke baat karat hain (when the time came for tea, they talk of building hotel),” said Mohammed Hassan in Kulheria Hisampur village in Balrampur.
The Congress may take a pinch of salt to hear statements like this but lack of a credible Muslim face to communicate 4.5 per cent quota for minorities within OBC is being clearly felt on the ground.
Change the place and put the question if the Muslims are impressed with minority quota, the answers remain same, echoing Hassan’s scepticism. “Sabhi ko aarakshan denge, Sikh bhi, sai bhi, Jain bhi, ka bachega Musalman ke liye... suna (they are giving reservation to all, including Sikh, Christian, Jains, what will be left for Muslims? a big zero),” said Sayed Chunnan in Gonda.
Naushad Ali in Behraich is also of the view that the Muslims want separate quota for the community and 4.5 per cent sub-quota within the OBC is not enough. “Ye to alpsankhyak arakshan hai naa sab Sikh, Christian le jaayenge, wo Musalman se behtar haalat mein hain (this is minority quota, the better offs Sikhs and Christians will walk away with all benefits),” explained Ali.
However, crucial Muslim votes in constituencies going to polls in the first phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections appear headed for a split even though slugfest among the Samajwadi Party, Congress and BSP remain unabated. Though the Congress had taken the head-start among the Muslims after the minority sub-quota was approved by the Centre, the SP appears to have covered lots of ground by communicating to the people that the new initiative is not only for Muslims. “We have not been able to properly communicate to the Muslims on the ground. This is clearly been felt in this part of the state,” said a senior Congress leader not wanting to be identified.
The Congress also appears not to have aggressively hit the ground on the issue of minority quota, as the party is battling infighting in this belt.
However, the SP too does not appear to be walking away with the Muslim vote bank.