Gujarat 2012: With no candidate, how will BJP get Muslim votes?

The Muslim vote bank, which constitutes close to ten percent of Gujarat’s electorate, has been a bit of a Achilles’ Heel for the Narendra Modi-led government for some time now. Firstpost had reported a while back how a few Muslim business people in Gujarat are rebuilding bridges long burnt by the government. The Narendra Modi government, on its part had made some efforts not long ago. [caption id=“attachment_539866” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Narendra Modi. AFP.[/caption] One of them being the Sadbhavana rally the Narendra Modi government started, to shrug off its ‘communal’ tag. Though Modi met Muslim leaders, The Indian Express had then reported and published a series of pictures on how the Gujarat CM had declined to wear a prayer cap offered by a member of the community, while he had accepted and sported pagdis typical to all other non-Muslim communities in the state. More recently, the Muslim community was conspicuous by their absence in the Google + Hangout session that was hosted to the public to interact with Modi. Now, the BJP seems to have taken another step back, by not fielding a single Muslim candidate in its list of 84 candidates in Gujarat. However, the reason for the step, according to The Indian Express, is rival and ex-BJP man Keshubhai Patel and his new party GPP, which has not fielded a Muslim candidate either. Reportedly, the party decided against fielding a candidate from the minority community fearing that the step would be equivalent to gifting victory to Keshubhai’s party, given that religion is an issue that runs deep and complicated in the electoral climate of Gujarat. The report quotes social activist J S Bandukwala as saying:

“If Modi gives tickets to Muslims, it means driving hardcore VHP and RSS supporters away to the GPP. The way he treated Muslims in 2002 is the key to his appeal.”

The Muslim vote, according to a DNA report matters in at least 35 of Gujarat’s 185 communities, where the Muslim population is close to 25 percent of the total. By not fielding a Muslim candidate, the BJP might have secured itself against a RSS rebellion, but it has left its ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ poll slogan to run into uncomfortable questions. However, the party is taking some desperate measures towards damage control too. DNA reports:

The head of its minority cell, Mehboob Ali Chishti, aka Mahebub Ali Bavasaheb, is from the liberal Sunni Barelvi sect that has a large following in the state. As the December polls draw closer, Bavasaheb has been exhorting Muslims, especially Barelvis, to vote for the BJP and ‘share in Gujarat’s development’. In recent days, the BJP has bagged two influential Muslim faces: Congress spokesperson Asifa Khan and retired IPS officer A.I. Saiyed.

  With this back-up, the party can only keep its fingers crossed and hope for the best.