With the verdict on the Babri mosque title suit likely in September, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party are drawing up their strategies to garner Muslim support on the issue.
Both the parties are planning to hold state level Muslim conventions where they will detail the manner in which they have worked towards protecting the rights of the community.
“We are not much concerned about the outcome of the court verdict since the same will be challenged in Supreme Court by either of the parties. What we are keen is to make Muslims realise that it is Mulayam Singh Yadav alone who has stood up for them in times of crisis. If he ever made a mistake (Kalyan Singh), he promptly owned up to it and apologised for it. Has any other leader shown the guts to do so?” asked a senior Muslim MLA from SP.
Samajwadi leaders believe that as soon as the Babri verdict is announced, Hindu outfits, including the BJP, will start whipping up Hindu passions and this will automatically lead to a polarisation of Muslim votes.
“However, we are keen to ensure that the Congress does not take the advantage of this polarisation,” disclosed the SP MLA.
The Congress, on the other hand, is determined to use the Kalyan Singh factor to question the secular credentials of the Samajwadi Party.
“Every party, barring the Congress, has flirted with the BJP. Mayawati did it thrice and Mulayam Singh did it in 1989 and then again when he joined hands with Kalyan Singh, the chief architect of Babri demolition. How can Muslims ever trust these leaders?” asked a senior Congress functionary.
The Congress-led UPA government is already drawing up new schemes for districts having Muslim concentration in the country and UP has 15 such districts. The UP Congress hopes to reap the electoral benefits of such schemes.
Moreover, the party is confident that under the leadership of Mr Rahul Gandhi — whose secular credentials and clean image are a major advantage — the party will succeed in weaning away Muslim votes from the Samajwadi Party.
The BSP, meanwhile, is preparing to play a spoiler in this battle for minority votes. According to party sources, the BSP will adopt a two-pronged strategy on the issue of Muslims.
“We will put the Congress in the dock on the issue of Babri demolition and then the delay in implementation of Sachchar Committee and the Ranganath Misra Committee reports. How can a party that has enjoyed power for 60 years not be responsible for the plight of Muslims in the country? As for the Samajwadi Party, we will tell people that it has welcomed members of the Hindu brigade including Kalyan Singh, Sakshi Maharaj into its fold and, therefore, its secular credentials are doubtful,” said a BSP leader.
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‘OBC route is being considered’
New Delhi, July 28: The government is actively considering reservation for Muslims through the Other Backward Castes (OBC) route, minority affairs minister Salman Khurshid has said.
“We are actively looking at the reservation issue. We have a commitment in our (Congress) manifesto. I am pushing for it all the time ... The Congress leadership is committed to the issue and there is no shred of doubt about it,” he said. Mr Khurshid was replying to questions on whether the government is ready to implement the recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission for reservation to minorities. —PTI