BJP in UP to woo Muslim voters in a big way

Lucknow, Aug 18 (IANS) The Bhartiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh has now set its eyes on a target that is considered impossible by many.

The BJP will now make a conscious effort to win over a section of minority votes in every assembly constituency.

The party will send out 44,000 members who will meet and talk to Muslim families and make them aware of the welfare work being done for them by Modi and Yogi governments.

The party has planned to target 5,000 votes in each assembly constituency.

The BJP Minority Morcha will be training its members to seek minority votes for the party in the upcoming assembly polls.

The party will also identify 50 strong workers in each assembly constituency. They will be given training and asked to target 100 votes from surrounding lanes.

Jamal Siddiqui, president of BJP Minority Morcha, said, "We analysed previous polls. Almost 20 per cent of assembly seats have been lost with a margin of 5,000 votes. Even in Bengal, we lost a considerable number of seats with lesser margins."

He said that the Morcha has identified 50 seats in Uttar Pradesh that have more than 60 per cent Muslim population and plans to secure tickets for his community.

To boost morale of Muslim workers of BJP, the party has a slogan that says, "Jo chunav ladega wahi aage badhega" (Those who contest will march forward).

Siddiqui said, "It is the responsibility of our community to back us in our efforts. We aspire for greater representation from the party but to ensure that our candidates win is our community's responsibility."

In the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP did not give a single ticket to any Muslim candidate in Uttar Pradesh.

However, Siddiqui said that things are likely to change in this election.

"We do not get tickets because we do not have candidates who can win elections. We should fight from the Muslim seats. We can be instrumental in connecting with the community," he explained.

He further said, "Muslims have 25 per cent share in BJP as one of its founding members was Sikander Bakht. Our community does not know these facts. If we are enemies of BJP, why is it that BJP is working for us as well?" he asked.