Peace Party, a Muslim dominated political party of eastern UP, is likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.
The Peace Party has come into the spotlight after it publicly stated its willingness to join hands with its ideological rival, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
Dr Mohammad Ayub, who contested the last three Lok Sabha and three assembly elections in the last two decades, has now stated that the party has no hesitation in contesting along with the BJP.
He said that he felt that the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress had used the Muslim community only as a vote bank. He accused these three parties of abandoning the community after the elections.
Dr Ayub said that if given the opportunity he would not hesitate to form an alliance with the NDA. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had proved by their conduct and performance that now there was no discrimination on the lines of caste and religion.
He said for the last several decades, Muslims had been lured by the ‘secular’ parties to defeat the BJP in the name of secularism. “Muslims have now realised that they were being taken for a ride,” he added.
Dr Ayub, a former MLA, claims to wield influence among the Pasmanda Muslims in the Purvanchal region. Pasmandas are one of the most backward sections among the Muslim community. They account for at least 85 per cent of all Muslims in the state, with Muslims in total comprising 18 per cent of Uttar Pradesh’s population.
After the formation of the party in 2008 and consolidating the Muslim votes, the Peace Party had won four seats in its first assembly election in 2012. But without the support of any big parties, even during the coalition period, the Peace Party remained on the margins of UP’s politics. The Peace Party is now seeking to expand its base in eastern UP, and its decision to move closer to the BJP is part of this strategy.
The BJP has, meanwhile, welcomed the change in political stance of the Peace Party. The BJP said the change of heart was the result of the impact of the welfare policies of the Yogi Adityanath and Narendra Modi governments.
BJP spokesperson Hero Bajpai said that the welfare schemes by the Central and state governments gave equal treatment to every section of society, and Pasmanda Muslims had got their due share only during the BJP government.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, the party contested 21 seats and got one per cent of the votes. Later, in the 2012 UP assembly election, the party contested 208 seats and won four. Now the party is hoping to forge an alliance with the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
