Post Muzaffarnagar, has Mulayam become 'Modi' to UP's Muslims?

Despite pounding the BJP incessantly for sparking riots in Muzaffarnagar, come elections, Muslim votes might just swing away from Mualayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party. A report on The Times of India states that Muslims in Uttar Pradesh seem to be fast losing faith in the SP government. TOI reports: “They appear determined to shift their allegiance from the ruling Samajwadi Party even as they don’t seem sure of just which party to back to stop the Narendra Modi juggernaut running through the region. This could well prove beneficial to Modi, whose prime ministerial bid hinges on his Bharatiya Janata Party’s performance in the state and especially this region.” While BJP MLAs had been apprehended following the riots and some proof regarding their involvement furnished, Muslim votes for SP are seemingly on a wane as the voters seem to be preferring BSP and even newbie Aam Aadmi Party in the state to the incumbent SP government. [caption id=“attachment_1409187” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhikesh Yadav. AFP.[/caption] Like the report states, the fact that the voters seem to be confused and not willing to vote for the BJP shows that it isn’t the Modi wave that is pushing voters away from SP. In fact, Mulayam Singh Yadav and his clan never seem to tire of waxing eloquent about their plans of development for the Muslim community. In fact , Singh’s traditional voter base has always been bolstered by Muslim support. More than the Muzaffarnagar riots in itself, the rehabilitation facilities provided to the Muslims could be a possible catalyst for the anti-SP wave that UP in seeing. Like we had reported in _Firstpost_ and as related elsewhere in the media, the condition of the refugee camps in Uttar Pradesh is deplorable. Several children and aged people died of severe cold and the flimsy tents provided to the refugees were hardly enough to survive. Moreover, the refugees never gathered enough courage to return to the own homes in Muzaffarnagar and had to continue living in penury and desperation despite having homes of their own. What is possibly pushing away Muslim voters from the SP government is the same apprehension that has made Narendra Modi suspect to Muslims in India. While there is no evidence that either the Mulayam government or Modi was complicit in the riots, the fact that the clashes still took place and consequently took the lives of several people points as glaring administrative lapses in both cases. Voicing concern and empathy for a community is one thing and walking the talk, another, our politicians have proved. Muslims in UP will be continuously anxious about the SP government’s ability to provide them with protection in the aftermath of the Muzaffarnagar riots, despite the party voicing their empathy for the Muslim community in the state. It remains to be seen if joining the Third Front, which wears its secular credentials on its sleeves, will help salvage SP’s fortunes with Muslim voters in Uttar Pradesh.