Largely ignoring the large number of Muslim candidates fielded by the BSP and the appeal on its behalf from Imam Abdullah Bukhari, Muslims remain the backbone of the UFs support in some constituencies in this relatively prosperous belt, roughly in a semi-circle about 200 km to the east of Delhi. Muslims account for 20 to 30 per cent of the population in a large slice to the north-east of this semi-circle, roughly from Saharanpur to Bareilly.
Ironically, BJP workers in a number of constituencies are pleased at the Muslims devotion to Yadav. They say that en masse Muslim support to the BSP, which has the unstinted support of the scheduled castes and some of the other backward castes, would have made Mayawatis party tough to beat in many constituencies. Since the scheduled castes account for about 20 per cent of the population and the BSP has fielded many candidates of other castes in a bid to rope in other votes, Muslim support for the BSP could have become almost as much of a nightmare for the BJP as it would have been for the UF.
Muslim voters may be broadly rooting for Yadav but are not behaving as a vote bank of any one party, or religious leader. When asked about Imam Abdullah Bukharis support to the BSP, Mustajah Ali waves dismissively:
