With elections round the corner, the season of iftar is in full bloom in UP. Major political parties in the state are gearing up to use the occasion to woo the Muslim voters and also display their popularity among the minority community.
Incidentally, it was former chief minister Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna who started the trend of political iftars in the seventies and the attendance at such functions later became a barometer for a party’s popularity among minorities.
The Samajwadi Party — known to host one of the best-attended and biggest iftar parties in Lucknow — plans to make this year’s iftar bigger than the best.
“We are yet to finalise the date because most leaders are busy in the Parliament session. We hope to finalise the date soon for the Iftar which is the much awaited event for all out well-wishers,” says senior SP leader Ahmad Hasan. The SP candidates for the next Assembly elections, however, are busy organising iftar parties in their respective constituencies in order to reach out to the minority voters.
The Congress, which is keen to get a large chunk of Muslim votes, will be hosting its iftar party on August 27. Senior party leaders, including MLAs and MPs, are expected to attend the event that will ensure a sizeable presence of maulanas and maulvis.
For the Congress, a sizeable Muslim presence at the iftar will mean that its acceptability among minorities has increased in recent years and party leaders are working overtime to ensure this.
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Modi writes to PM, complains about PC
Age Correspondent
New Delhi
Aug. 13: Accusing Union home minister P. Chidambaram of promoting indiscipline in the state police force, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Saturday sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s immediate intervention.
Mr Chidambaram had spoken about the possibility of the Centre stepping in while expressing concern over the Modi government’s action against two senior IPS men locked in a public confrontation with it over the 2002 post-Godhra riots. In a letter to the PM, Mr Modi said such “blatant” interference from the Centre will destroy the very fabric of federal structure. “It is a matter of concern,” Mr Chidambaram had told reporters when asked whether the Centre was concerned over the tug of war between the police officers of Gujarat and the state government over the 2002 riots.
Some other senior Union ministers have also made similar statement before the media, Mr Modi said in his letter, referring to their defence of Gujarat cadre-IPS officers Sanjiv Bhatt and Rahul Sharma. “These statements are against the Centre-state relationship and a dangerous threat to the federal set up of Indian governance,” said Mr Modi.