Cong uses Modi wave to polarise Muslims
2 Dec 2013 1:22 AM GMT
With just two days left to go for the polls in the national capital, the politics appears to be taking a turn for the polarisation of the Muslim votes in Delhi in favour of the Congress party. The hectic campaigning by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi across the city, addressing four rallies over the weekend, may have helped the BJP to wean the middle class votes to its kitty, but it has, on the other hand, certainly resulted in the process of consolidation of Muslim votes in favour of the Congress.
There are 21 seats in Delhi where presence of Muslim votes is in the excess of 10 per cent of total electorate. Of these, there are six seats – Matia Mahal and Ballimaran in the Walled City, Okhla in South Delhi and Seelampur, Mustafabad and Babarpur in North-East – where the Muslim presence is over 30 per cent.
Modi’s arrival in Delhi was preceded by a flurry of advertisements in the city’s Urdu dailies including in Inquilab (which is owned by Jagran group, considered close to rightist ideology) warning the Muslim masses of the ‘consequences’ of a BJP win in the national capital. The advertisement issued by Mohammed Adeeb, a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh, in no uncertain terms cautions against division of Muslim votes and allowing the BJP PM candidate’s dream to succeed.
The 400 square centimetre front page advertisement claims that Modi, following the Gujarat riots, has become symbol of communalism, and to defeat his designs of becoming the PM in 2014, the Muslims must ensure survival of Sheila Dikshit government in Delhi. The advertisement also carries picture of Dikshit.
This has been followed by advertisement from Dikshit in the Urdu newspapers on Sunday morning appealing to the youth from minority community to support her government to further development of the community and employment opportunities for the youth. Dikshit, incidentally, had not issued any advertisements in the Hindi or English newspapers till Sunday morning. The combined circulation of Urdu dailies in the city is around three lakh.
Moreover, the Aam Admi Party (AAP) of Arvind Kejriwal had given a big push to the minority agenda, with even promising to reopen the Batla house encounter case if they came to power and, more notoriously, also seeking services of fatwa-issuing clergymen to campaign for them. There are a few other Muslim groups such as Peace Party which are also in the fray. However, the ‘Modification’ of the BJP campaign in the past few days has led to second thoughts within the community, which may now close ranks behind the Congress candidates.
Those who follow the polls in the national capital closely feel that such polarisation in the Capital had taken place after 1993, when Muslims en bloc had voted against the Congress, with Janata Dal winning three seats and ensuring defeat of Congress on several seats, reducing its strength in the house of 70 to mere 14. The trend is other way round this time and could help the ruling party to withstand the double whammy of anti-incumbency at both the state and the national level.
There are 21 seats in Delhi where presence of Muslim votes is in the excess of 10 per cent of total electorate. Of these, there are six seats – Matia Mahal and Ballimaran in the Walled City, Okhla in South Delhi and Seelampur, Mustafabad and Babarpur in North-East – where the Muslim presence is over 30 per cent.
Modi’s arrival in Delhi was preceded by a flurry of advertisements in the city’s Urdu dailies including in Inquilab (which is owned by Jagran group, considered close to rightist ideology) warning the Muslim masses of the ‘consequences’ of a BJP win in the national capital. The advertisement issued by Mohammed Adeeb, a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh, in no uncertain terms cautions against division of Muslim votes and allowing the BJP PM candidate’s dream to succeed.
The 400 square centimetre front page advertisement claims that Modi, following the Gujarat riots, has become symbol of communalism, and to defeat his designs of becoming the PM in 2014, the Muslims must ensure survival of Sheila Dikshit government in Delhi. The advertisement also carries picture of Dikshit.
This has been followed by advertisement from Dikshit in the Urdu newspapers on Sunday morning appealing to the youth from minority community to support her government to further development of the community and employment opportunities for the youth. Dikshit, incidentally, had not issued any advertisements in the Hindi or English newspapers till Sunday morning. The combined circulation of Urdu dailies in the city is around three lakh.
Moreover, the Aam Admi Party (AAP) of Arvind Kejriwal had given a big push to the minority agenda, with even promising to reopen the Batla house encounter case if they came to power and, more notoriously, also seeking services of fatwa-issuing clergymen to campaign for them. There are a few other Muslim groups such as Peace Party which are also in the fray. However, the ‘Modification’ of the BJP campaign in the past few days has led to second thoughts within the community, which may now close ranks behind the Congress candidates.
Those who follow the polls in the national capital closely feel that such polarisation in the Capital had taken place after 1993, when Muslims en bloc had voted against the Congress, with Janata Dal winning three seats and ensuring defeat of Congress on several seats, reducing its strength in the house of 70 to mere 14. The trend is other way round this time and could help the ruling party to withstand the double whammy of anti-incumbency at both the state and the national level.
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