The future of BJP’s two Muslim candidates seems to be uncertain as they find themselves on the slippery ground in the suddenly changed atmosphere.
Saba Zafar, the sitting BJP MlA from Amour in Purnia, has a tough task at hand to retain his seat while Abdul Rahman, who had lost in 2010 from Kochadhaman in Kishanganj, has been unable to attract even the traditional BJP voters.
Each of these Assembly constituencies has about 75 per cent Muslim voters. Zafar won last election since the BJP had alliance with the JD(U) and a certain percentage of Muslim votes went in his favour. But since the situation has changed, he and the BJP are unsure about the result.
Campaigning in his constituency Amour on the borders of Purnia and Kishanganj, Zafar sounded hopeless. “The Muslims who would have voted for me have turned hostile. The statements by some BJP leaders have distanced my voters,” he said.
“The unhappiness among Muslims with the BJP further grew following some objectionable statement by BJP leaders, else they would have voted for me,” Zafar said and added that in last election the atmosphere was not hostile. He did not name the leaders whose statements angered the Muslims.
Asked if the Muslim could vote for Zafar and not the BJP, he said, “This can happen.” The lone Muslim MlA of the BJP appeared unhappy with the party leadership. He said he did not get the reward from the party after his victory in 2010.
Rahman in Kochadhaman is caught in a triangular contest and the local people say the actual contest is between JD(U)’s Mujahid Alam and two-time MlA Akhtarul Iman of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslamin (AIMIM) who represented this seat on RJD ticket.
But surprisingly, Rahman has not succeeded in attracting Hindu votes even. The Hindus are in minority and their voting strength is about 10,000. “I am a Hindu and BJP supporter but I am not going to vote for him,” said middle-aged Krishna Babu at Bama Basti. When asked why he prefers JD(U) over BJP, he said, “We are not comfortable with the Muslim candidate of the BJP.”
Krishna’s frank admission showed how the society has been polarised along religious lines. The supporters are ready to vote for a Muslim candidate of the JD(U) but not the BJP, as he said that minority Hindus had been expecting a non-Muslim candidate by the BJP. This could be the reason that Rahman was defeated in last Assembly polls too, though he did not face so stiff resistance that time.
The BJP though carefully considered caste arithmetic by fielding Rahman, who is a Suryapuri Muslim. In Kishanganj Muslims have three sects Shershahabadi, Suryapuri and Kulhaiya. The Shershahabadi have clear dominance and the candidates of JD(U) and AIMIM belong to this group. In Kochadhaman Suryapuri Muslims number about 30,000 as against 1.25 lakh population of Shershahabadis.
The BJP had been banking on Hindu voters as well as Suryapuri Muslim voters but on the ground this arithmetic seems to be not working. “In the name of Muslim unity the Muslim society is united and no Muslim is likely to vote for BJP,” said an elderly Tameezuddin, a Suryapuri Muslim, at Gachch Para.