'Sonia-Shahi Imam meet another blunder by Congress'

If anything, Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari’s call to back the Congress party in the upcoming Lok Sabha election has only underlined his dwindling clout within the Muslim community. The announcement by the Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid has by and large been either dismissed outright or met with indifference by the average Muslim voter. All too aware of the changing political stripes of Imam and his inability to influence voters, political leaders in the Muslim community aren’t taking him too seriously. What has come in for sharp criticism, however, is the Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s decision to meet Imam Bukhari, whose growing irrelevance in the community is a well-known fact. “The Congress is making so many blunders at the time of election. And this is one more addition to that. If they had done what they had promised in their manifesto, there would have been no need to meet anyone. They are desperately in need of the minority community that seems to be shifting away from them,” SQR Ilyas, general secretary of the Welfare Party of India told Firstpost. [caption id=“attachment_1467631” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The Shahi Imam’s word doesn’t usually influence polls. PTI[/caption] “That is why they are going from pillar to post. Recently some Muslim organisations criticised the Congress party and conveyed to them their anger because the Party had simply not delivered. The Congress is very frustrated. That is why it appears Sonia Gandhi agreed to meet Imam Bukhari,” he said. Describing Imam Bhukari’s pronouncement as nothing more than ‘his personal opinion’, Ilyas said “What he is saying cannot be counted as the voice of the Indian Muslims. He is not in a position to assess the entire community. He has not consulted any Muslim organisation before taking this decision. You can count it as Imam Bukhari’s personal opinion.” Criticising the Imam for surfacing only during elections, Ilyas said, “For five years, we don’t know where he was. He didn’t raise any questions on welfare of the Muslim community. He did not engage with the government on policy issues. Suddenly at time of the elections if he declares that Congress should be supported, it will not have any impact on the voters.” Five-time MLA Shoaib Iqbal, an influential local leader, knows first-hand the limits of Imam Bukhari’s political influence over the Muslim community. “I have fought five assembly elections. In every assembly election he opposed me and every time I won. Imam Bukhari doesn’t wield the influence his father did. What does not impact voters,” he said. Reacting to the desperation that parties are showing to woo the Muslim community in this elections, Iqbal said, “For the first time, I am beginning to get this feeling that it is not an anti-Congress wave or a BJP wave that is dominating the election. What we are seeing is a Muslim wave. Everyone is hankering for the Muslim vote. Every party wants the Muslim vote.” Despite having been on the wrong side of Imam Bukhari, Iqbal seems to back his call to support the Congress in this election. “Imam Bukhari has put his weight behind a secular party. Today there are three parties - the BJP, the Congress and AAP. By dividing the vote, AAP might just help the BJP. It may not be able to take on BJP. This is a Lok Sabha election and not a Vidhan Sabha election. And in order to stop the BJP, the Muslim will have to come together,” Iqbal said. On the probability of the division of the Muslim vote, the JD (U) leader said, “There won’t be en bloc voting. My assessment is that 60 per cent will go with AAP and 40 per cent with Congress. There is a 40 per cent committed Muslim vote that the Congress will get.” “Yes, the Congress has not done anything for the Muslims and the community is anti-Congress. But they vote for Congress out of fear of the BJP. With AAP, Muslims have got an option. Still, the Muslim voter will weigh his options and keep them open till the very end. AAP has definitely made an impact. The election is in four days. Muslims will make their decision soon,” he said. While Ilyas agrees that there could be a division in the minority, he said it will depend on the voters’ own calculations in each constituency. “There cannot be uniform voting. It will differ from person to person and from area to area. But, by and large, their main purpose would be to vote for the candidate in a position to defeat the communal forces,” Ilyas said. Asked if AAP was in that position in Delhi, he said, “AAP is in a better position. After the assembly election, it was clear that AAP was capable of defeating communal forces in Delhi. So because of that there is a shift from the Congress to AAP.”