'Predicting new political alignments during the parliamentary election, Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, Maulana Syed Ahmad Bukhari, said that Muslims may go with the Bahujan Samaj Party as they were not happy with the Samajwadi Party and the Congress. "Be it Congress or Samajwadi Party, both the parties have done injustice with Muslims. When the lok Sabha election is round the corner, all political parties have come out with promises that are a bundle of lies, Bukhari told 'The Pioneer'.
Bukhari has called a meeting of clerics and intellectuals the community in New Delhi on Saturday to discuss the agenda of Muslims for the lok Sabha election. Delegates from different parts of the nation would attend the meeting.
When asked about extending support to BSP during the election, the Maulana said the community was not happy with the policies of the SP and the Congress for Muslims. He said the issue of supporting the BSP would be taken up in the meeting and a decision will be taken on it. "In the meeting, a large number of delegates will be coming from Uttar Pradesh and they will take up the issue of which political party should be supported," he added.
Cheesed off with the policies of SP towards Muslims of the state, Bukhari had shot off a letter to the party's supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, reminding him about the demands which were raised by him on December 23, 2011 before the Vidhan Sabha elections. "I feel disappointed that all the eight demands I raised before the Vidhan Sabha election of 2012, remain unfulfilled even after the SP Government coming to power," the maulana said in the letter written on January 29.
Hitting out at the SP Government, Maulana Bukhari said the Muslims had high hope from the party but it had done nothing significant for their uplift. "Instead, Muslims had to face the brunt of riots at Muzaffarnagar and other places due to complete failure of the state Government," the maulana said. "I wrote to Mulayam Singh Yadav about the complaints and pending demands of Muslims. I even met the Chief Minister over those demands but all these efforts turned futile due to which I am unable to face the community," he added.
Maulana Bukhari said the SP chief had not yet replied to his letter dated January 29. "Now let the Muslim clerics and intellectuals decide on supporting any political party in lok Sabha election," he said. In the letter, The maulana has sought a reply from the SP supremo before the meeting of clerics and intellectuals in Delhi on Saturday.