Shivraj Chouhan under fire for fielding just one Muslim candidate

The ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh has given a ticket to only one Muslim candidate for the 25November state Assembly elections, and the Congress party has not held back its criticism. The Congress has alleged that the BJP is trying to “fool” the community despite Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan embracing them during festivals. Meanwhile the BJP has defended itself saying that it does not believe in religion or caste-based politics. Former Union Minister Arif Baig (78) is the lone Muslim nominee for the BJP from the North Bhopal constituency from where the party won in 1992. [caption id=“attachment_1231243” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Chouhan has been accused of only paying lip service to Muslims[/caption] Meanwhile Congress for its part, has fielded five candidates from the community from different constituencies. Besides Arif Aqueel from Bhopal North, Congress has also fielded Arif Masood from Bhopal Central, Abdul Majeed Khan from Rewa, Firoz Ahmed from Mudwara and Yusuf Kadapa from Jaora. “We demanded nearly 20-22 seats for minority community in the state from the Congress and got a total of 10 tickets including five for Muslim candidates,” Madhya Pradesh Congress minority cell president, Mohammad Salim told PTI. “I am satisfied with the allotment of party tickets to the Muslim candidates this time as our major aim is to ensure the victory of Congress in the state at any cost,” Salim said. Criticising Chouhan, he said that though he “embraced the minority community during festivals and donned skull caps,” it was a fact that his party has given ticket only to a single candidate in the entire state, which is an “attempt to fool the community.” “Though Baig is a senior leader, he won’t be able to cut much ice with the voters this time as he is not even having a team of dedicated workers,” Salim said. “If BJP is serious about Muslim welfare then it should implement the Sachhar Committee report in toto,” he said. However, defending his party, state BJP’s minority front president, Hidayatullah Sheikh said, “BJP never believes in giving ticket to candidates on the basis of religion or caste and it’s only criterion is winnability factor.” Justifying the ticket to Baig, he said “One Arif Baig is enough to strengthen the voice of the entire community in the state and he will prove his mettle in the days to come.” “We have not demanded any particular number of seats for the community as we are against giving tickets on the basis of religion or caste,” he added. PTI