In view of the ensuing State Assembly elections, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan hosted a tea party for prominent Muslim community members from across the State at his official residence on Sunday.
At a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its parental organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were conducting many brainstorming sessions in the national capital over naming of Hindutva leader Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister’s tea party to Muslims held special meaning and also sent sort of message to party leadership.
The meeting had especial significance since it also came in the backdrop of communal riots in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar and its periphery areas. Chouhan, off and on tossed up as competitor of Modi within the saffron brigade by the media and Gujarat Chief Minister’s opponents within BJP has also expressed his displeasure over naming of Modi as party’s prime ministerial candidate at this point of time.
The meet was being eyed as an effort by Chouhan to toss up his image of secular leader before the party leadership. He had been in news on prior occasions also for hosting Roza Aftar in Chief Minister’s residence and wearing skull cap to greet Muslims on the occasion of Eid. BJP State president (minority cell) Hidayatullah Sheikh while talking to The Pioneer over the issue, said, “The Chief Minister invited religious and elite non political members of the community over a cup of tea at his residence and assured them that peace would prevail in the State and his Government would not let any untoward incident happen in the State.”
Sheikh said the high tea party of the Chief Minister was attended by religious leaders and prominent members of the community from across the State. “Chouhan did not talk politics during the meet with the Muslims, neither did he mention his decision to roll back Geeta recitation from Urdu schools nor did he ask for their support in the election,” Sheikh added.
He said that the Chief Minister took the occasion only to assure the community that the rule of law prevailed in the State and all the citizens were equal for the State. The Chief Minister did mention during the discussion that when the Allahabad High Court verdict over Ayodhya came he (Chouhan) immediately issued instructions to the Home Minister, administrative and police officials that no untoward incident should take place in the State and this exactly happened, he added. The tea party was attended by the Shahar Qazis and Muftis of Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, Shajapur and Hoshangabad besides advocates, doctors and other elite class members of the community from other districts of the state.
The highlight of the meet was that the BJP State president Narendra Singh Tomar despite being in Bhopal did not attended it while party national vice president Prabhat Jha was especially present on the occasion.