Mulayam works on Muslim support

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This could be bad news for the Congress in Uttar Pradesh.
The Samajwadi Party in the state has started making an all-out effort to consolidate its Muslim vote base in order to ensure a good performance in the next Lok Sabha elections.
Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav is confident that the party could win up to 50 seats in the next Lok Sabha elections if it manages to keep the Muslims on its side and then play a decisive role at the Centre.
In 2009, the Congress had weaned away a sizeable share of Muslim votes which helped the party win 22 seats.
The Akhilesh Yadav government has already started making a visible effort to keep the Muslims in good humour by doling out sops to the community.
Within hours of being sworn in, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav announced a sum of `30,000 to all Muslims girls who pass Class 10, irrespective of their social and economic status. He further announced that the government will check encroachment in Muslim graveyards and will construct boundaries to ensure security. Christian graveyards, incidentally, have not been included in this.
The state government has already started putting Muslim officers in key positions and leading the way is Javed Usmani who has been appointed chief secretary. Babri Masjid activist Zafaryab Jilani has been appointed additional advocate-general.
The Akhilesh Yadav government already has a significant Muslim presence with one Cabinet minister and seven state ministers belonging to the Muslim community, the largest Muslim representation in the ministry in recent years.
Besides, the government is planning to open more Urdu medium school in districts having a sizeable Muslim population.
The state government is also planning to withdraw terror cases against Muslim youth where they have not been proved guilty.