Muslims hold key to outcome in eastern UP

MANDATE 2004

After the first round of polling in southern regions on Tuesday, the focus has shifted to eastern Uttar Pradesh where polls would be held on April 26. As the polls draw near, there are desperate moves by all parties to win over their traditional constituencies.

The increasing shrillness in BJP state unit president Vinay Katiyar's tone on the Hindutva issue is an indication of the BJP leadership's inability to gauge the people's mood.

Similarly, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav who took the Muslims vote for granted has been facing a tough time to retain his traditional supporters.

By all indications, Muslims who constitute a significant chunk of the electorate - ranging from 10 to 24 percent in eastern UP - would hold the key to success of Yadav. And it will be presumptuous to think that Muslims have no option but to go for Yadav and his Samajwadi Party. In the past one decade, Muslims' political priorities seem to have undergone a sea change.

This was clearly illustrated in a series of meetings of Muslim intellectuals held in Lucknow, Varanasi and Aligarh where the deliberations always focussed on Muslims' share in the political structure.

A senior bureaucrat who played a leading role in organising the meeting pointed out that in all such meetings, the emphasis was unmistakably on the welfare of the community. "How many district presidents Mulayam Singh Yadav had appointed in his party?" one of the participant asked.

Those attending the meeting admit that there was a discernible change in the approach of a large section of Muslims, who are not swayed by the fiery rhetoric of mullahs.

A sustained campaign by the Muslim intelligentsia in parts of UP has been able to convince Muslims that they should come forward for modern education to have stake in the system.

That the Muslims are not influenced by psychological pampering is evident by the fact that the Mulayam Singh Yadav government's decision to decalre a prayer break on on Friday was rejected outrightly and across the board by Muslims in the state.