The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh that got a substantial number of Muslim votes in the assembly elections held in November last year is unlikely to get the same support from the community in the current lok Sabha election for the reason of projecting Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate by the saffron party.
The Muslims across the state still have eerie reminiscences of the 2002 Gujarat riots, and say they will not vote for someone who was unable to stop a massacre of "innocent people" in his state.
Qazi-e-Riyasat of Bhopal Syed Mushtaq Ali Nadwi, the final authority for community decisions, though, declined to comment, saying that he would not speak on a political issue. However, sources close to him revealed that the Qazi was siding with the anti-Modi mood.
Qazi-e-Riyasat's territory includes state capital Bhopal, Sehore, Raisen and Berasia and his opinion is regarded as an order for the community.
Internationally acclaimed Urdu poet from the state capital Manzar Bhopali said, "Unlike the Assembly elections, where a majority of the Muslim community had voted for the BJP owing to the secular image of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Muslim votes have now been consolidated against Modi."
Manzar Bhopali further said that the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) sensing that Muslim consolidation against Modi could poise much harm to them, played cleverly and divided the community on the lines of its different sects. Muslim clerics who are at loggerheads with each other over various issues of their own personal benefits became easy tool of the saffron party and they all issued different appeals to the community confusing it and serving the BJP purpose of dividing this solid vote bank, he added.
Another internationally acclaimed Urdu poet and noted Bollywood lyricist Rahat Indori said, "The Ulemas (clerics) have played a very bad role this time and have confused the community through their diverse appeals. But one thing is for sure that they could not persuade the community to vote in favour of the BJP, though their appeals have indirectly benefited the saffron party."
Maqbool Ahmed, a former journalist, currently running a hotel-cum-community kitchen christened Naaz-langar-E-Aam, feeding 200 homeless people daily at Nadira bus stand in the Old City, summarizes the sentiments of the Muslim community towards Modi:
“No amount of forgiveness can absolve Modi of the crime that was committed under his watch in Gujarat. The people say the Muslims have moved on from 2002. It is true that we have moved on, but we will never forget and forgive Modi till the day of Qayamat,” he said.
As per the 2011 census, the population of Bhopal is 18 lakh, of which Muslims constitute 4.5 lakh. During the 2009 elections, 6.5 lakh people from the city had voted, out of which 3.5 lakh votes were polled by the BJP candidate, who defeated his Congress rival by a margin of 60,000 votes. The Muslims have a sizeable presence in close to seven other constituencies of the state. Observers say that a Muslim vote consolidation may prove to be the game-changer in the State.