Eye on 2024, BJP launches year-long campaign to attract Muslim votes

The BJP's Minority Morcha on Wednesday started a Muslim outreach programme titled 'Sufi Samvad Maha Abhiyaan' with an eye on the Lok Sabha elections next year, party sources informed.

To make the campaign successful, the BJP has put together a team of 150 non-political people to take this mega outreach effort across the length and breadth of the country. These people will be split into separate teams and will spread out across the country as part of the outreach towards the minorities, ahead of the all-important Lok Sabha elections next year.

The teams will visit several Muslim-dominated Lok Sabha constituencies to make the minorities aware of the work done for them by the Narendra Modi-led BJP government. Also as part of this initiative, a nationwide campaign will be conducted for about a year through various dialogue programmes.

At the end of the year-long, a mega outreach event for Muslims will be organised under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.

Speaking on the outreach programme, the president of the BJP's Minority Morcha, Jamal Siddiqui, said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed us to reach out to the Sufi community with the agenda of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayaas'. The idea is to be among the Muslim community and tell them that the government, under the leadership of PM Modi, works for all, irrespective of caste, creed or community. We will also dispel false notions of the Opposition about the BJP and Prime Minister Modi."

Sources informed further that outreach programmes will be organised in a big way in Lok Sabha seats where Muslims account for more than 20 per cent of the population. A range of events such as seminars, dialogues, and door-to-door visits, among others, will be planned and organised. A dedicated outreach campaign will be conducted in many states, including Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, and West Bengal. In Uttar Pradesh, such events will be organised in Lok Sabha constituencies such as Saharanpur, Meerut, Rampur, and Azamgarh, as well as in Bihar's Kishanganj, Araria, and Katihar.

Prime Minister Modi, on various occasions in the recent past, exhorted party leaders and workers to reach out to the minority community. At the BJP's National Executive meeting in Delhi, he advised BJP workers to build relationships with people from all sections of society, especially Bohra and Pasmanda Muslims, as well as Sikhs and Christians, without worrying about votes, informed sources.

The party believes that with support of the Muslims and other minorities, the BJP can secure an even bigger mandate in 2024 than it did in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.