While the Muslim community is drifting away from the Congress, the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh is out to embrace them. A similar incident was reported when over one thousand persons of minority community joined the BJP in Ujjain, when in Bhopal the Muslim community was holding demonstration against Congress leadership.
When the Muslim community was holding demonstration against the state Congress leadership in the state capital on April 25, during the Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s visit, over 1000 community members were taking membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Ujjain.
If this is any indication than the wait for the Congress to gain power in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh may get longer as the angst of the Muslim community population of that counts to substantial over 13 per cent in the state may cost dear to Congress that is out of power in the state since 2003.
Moreover, to add worries to the Congress kitty chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is going to inaugurate the first ever Haj House of the state in Bhopal on Monday.
The demand for the construction of the Haj House is being made since long by the Muslims in the state and by fulfilling the same the BJP has taken a step ahead to woo the community that no longer considers the saffron party as untouchable in the state.
BJP Minority Cell State President Hidayatullah Sheikh while talking to ‘The Pioneer’ over the issue said, “Muslims have been disillusioned from the Congress, they now understands that the Congress party does not care for them, it only looks for the community votes whereas the BJP cares for them and does not treat them only as an vote bank.”
Sheikh further said that the BJP no longer remains untouchable for the Muslims in the state, the perfect example of that is when the community was protesting against the visit of the Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in Bhopal over 1000 Muslims were taking the membership of BJP in Ujjain by the hands of BJP state president and MP Narendra Singh Tomar under the aegis of BJP minority cell.
He said that the Muslims in the state are happy with the works done by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan led BJP government of the state and feels secured under his rule. “We have cleared the misconceptions about the BJP from the minds of Muslims and are sure that the community would play a larger role in bringing back the party in power for the record third term under Chouhan’s leadership,” added the BJP minority cell state president. Former president of the Bhopal District Congress Committee (minority cell)
SM Salman who spearheaded the protest demonstration against the Congress leadership said, “The way Congress is ignoring the community days are not far when the large number of community members would start joining BJP. Already a large number of community has voted in favour of the saffron party during the last assembly and parliamentary elections, now with the fresh attempts being made by the BJP leadership to woo the community and the works done by its government in favour of Muslims it seems that Congress would lost its traditional vote bank.”
A community member and a senior Congress leader on condition of anonymity told that if the BJP started giving tickets to Muslims in the assembly and parliamentary elections like it did in the local bodies’ elections than the Congress would meet the same fate it had meted in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.