Breaking the jinx that clerics do not contest elections, the very first Shia Muslim cleric, Maulana Kalbe Rushaid Rizvi is contesting lok Sabha elections from Amroha on Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) ticket. This is first time that a cleric has jumped into the poll fray. With his vision to take Hindus and Muslims along on the path of development, Rizvi, in a tete-a-tete with Hujjat Raza charts out his vision towards Amroha
How do you see the lok Sabha elections and what’s your connection with AmrohaIJ
As an Indian I have connection with every part of the nation and I feel the pain that people are going through. The party chose me to contest from Amroha and respecting the party’s decision, I came to the constituency to know about the people’s problems and issues. If I would have been aiming for a Muslim-dominated seat, there were options like Hyderabad, lucknow and Mumbai but we want to bring change in the traditional politics of caste and religion and we should start considering nation’s development.
Whom do you think as the strongest candidate in Amroha constituencyIJ
Pareshan main nahi pareshan toh dusre candidate hain ki yeh kahan se aa gaya. The BJP has fielded Kanwar Singh Tanwar and Congress’s candidate is Rakesh Tikait — both of them have money and power and I’m having none of it. Still I am focusing on door-to-door campaigning to meet people and know about their issues and problems. This had annoyed both of the rival candidates as a lok Sabha candidate barely goes in villages to meet the people and ask about their problems.
Tell us about your political career and the reason for joining the Aam Aadmi PartyIJ
I started my political career with Ram Vilas Paswan’s lok Janshakti Party (lJP) and was appointed in minority special cell. I asked Paswanji to sanction a budget of `208 crore from the Ministry of Steel for the development of the people of Kashmir. When Baba Ramdev launched campaign against black money, I shared the dais with him and was even with Anna Hazare during anti-graft movement. later when Arvind Kejriwal decided to float a new party in Delhi and Paswan started favouring Narendra Modi, I left the lJP and joined the AAP.
You have shared dais with Baba Ramdev and now he will be coming to Amroha to campaign for the BJP candidate. How do you take itIJ
Baba Ramdev has a commitment with the BJP and he would be coming to campaign for the BJP candidate. I don’t know what he will say or think about my candidature. He respects me since we were both in the black money crusade but now I don’t know what he thinks.
What is your campaigning strategy and what are the issues of the people of this constituencyIJ
When I came here I realised that people of Amroha were used to traditional politics of caste and religion. I started my campaigning from rural areas of the constituency. There are nearly 1,500 villages in the constituency. In some 900 villages, I could find only 300-500 voters, about 12,000-15,000 people live in 19 villages and in 25 of them, about 8,000 people reside. The voter population might have increased after my visit. The villagers were amazed to see a candidate meeting them. Till now, only the agents of a candidate used to campaign (not the candidates). Amroha lok Sabha constituency comprises of five Vidhan Sabha (legislative Assembly) segments including, Dhanaura, Naugawan Sadat, Amroha, Hasanpur and Garhmukteshwar.