Muslim faces in Modi's Kanpur rally may not turn into votes

By Priyanka Lucknow: Days of exercise by the BJP workers to give Gujarat CM and Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s rally a ‘secular hue’ had only a tinge. The rally in Kanpur, the stronghold of the RSS, was crucial for two reasons. First, it was Modi’s kick-start rally in the series of eight lined up in the state and secondly, the party had planned it as a strategic move to bring together the largest religious minority in the Uttar Pradesh – that holds 80 out of total 543 Lok Sabha seats. Modi’s dialogue that he wanted to take along everyone irrespective of their religion and that people in all religion can do good, was the only ingredient in his speech on what the gathering on the rally ground was speculating about. The speech, from a vastu compliant dais focused more on development and youth at national level– something Modi has been speaking about in his recent public speeches and which is seen as an attempt by the Gujarat chief minister to launder his image. The other points in his speech being Congress and its policies. “There might be minority faces in the close to one lakh as there are a large number living in Kanpur, a town with 45 lakh population, but you won’t see them transforming into votes. And I think Narendra Modi knows this fact,” said Tahira, social activist. [caption id=“attachment_1182751” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  The rally in Kanpur, the stronghold of the RSS, was crucial for Modi. PTI[/caption] She pointed, “What might happen due to presence of Modi is polarization of non-minority votes but that too is uncertain.” Modi has to address more rallies in Uttar Pradesh –the next being on October 25 in Jhansi followed by Bahraich in November – but taking up minority directly in his speeches is an idea that political analysts don’t buy. “Why should he do it at all?” And the answer can be, ‘to bring the largest religious minority of Uttar Pradesh close to the party.’ A senior political analyst Zaheer Mustafa has his point of view, “Modi can never be accepted by Muslims, irrespective of whatever the party is doing. People are gullible only until there is a hidden agenda which they are not aware of but Modi has been exposed beyond limits. Today the situation within the community is that eve a discussion on Modi within a family is not welcomed and is rather resented.” Religious leader Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahali says, “This is a balloon in which air is being filled. The party is crying hoarse of Gujarat model and it seems as if Gujarat has been turned into Bangkok. The problems of illiteracy, malnutrition, and unemployment are the same as in any other state. The fact is that Modi excels in converting non issues into issues. However, in this election more than 60 percent voter is youth which cannot be fooled by such arguments. They will vote only for that party that has done development on the ground. If Modi has been the Chief Minister three times then Shiela Dixit also has been ruling the third time. Besides, Muslims are not ready to accept Modi because of his communal image and will never go to his side. The only silver lining in India is that majority of Hindus are also secular, which became clear when BJP could not win after  the Babri demolition. Now the responsibility of other parties is to clear this misconception." But does Modi possess a magical wand for increasing seats from 10? Wooing the Muslims isn’t just game of words. The assumption that if Muslims attend Modi’s rally they will bring votes too, isn’t really a ‘2 plus 2=4’ formula. A large section of minority in Uttar Pradesh claims proximity with the ruling Samajwadi Party and they share dais with the party chief at majority public functions. So even if Modi can come and talk about minority, the ruling party can certainly do more such functions to claim proximity. “Minority have a tendency to wait till the last before actually deciding which party suits their wish, hence conversion of votes for any political party isn’t a game of words in Uttar Pradesh. Speeches certainly will recall Gujarat 2000,” said Tahira. There are other issues plaguing Modi’s prospects in the UP polls too. “Modi’s charisma is difficult to work here in UP which has a different character. Here, development is never an agenda but the focus is on caste. What Modi has done in Gujarat is not relevant in UP where voting pattern is also different. Maximum voting is done in Panchayat elections and least in parliament. Issues like corruption have no meaning as people are involved only in local issues,” says Avnish Verma, Senior Technical Assistant in Geological Survey of India, who has served once as a presiding officer and twice as polling officer in various elections in the country. Among Muslims, the youth - considered to be Modi’s stronghold - still have apprehensions about the effectiveness of him as the country’s PM. Mohd Asim Khan, a lecturer in chemistry at Amiruddaula Islamia Inter College says, “The development work Modi has done in Gujarat underlines that there were no issues of Hindu and Muslim. But the ghost of 2002 riots-even if he was directly not involved-still haunts Muslims. The community is apprehensive that such riots may spread all across if Modi is heading the nation. The other side of the coin is that he may control such incidents to improve his image.” The Kanpur rally though was well planned and as soon as Modi’s rallies were proposed, his close aide Amit Shah traveled across UP. This apparently sent message across the party workers that he is here to change the scenario. However, his speech didn’t gel with the speculations in the air. So the rally remained just a start of his journey in the Hindi heartland. Other political parties gave obvious reactions to the rally. Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary claimed that BJP had spent over Rs 10 crore for this event but could not connect with any of the sections in the society. The fact that Modi is cautious about Uttar Pradesh rallies can be judged by the fact that his security arrangements  were done under strict supervision of the Gujarat police only. A team of senior policemen from Gujarat, came to Uttar Pradesh before his visit and ensured security arrangements as per their calculations. Even the first security ring from the dais – within which no person is allowed to move – was increased from 30 feet to 60 feet at the behest of the Gujarat police. This was apart from the arrangements such as Gujarati snacks for him at the venue. With inputs from Alka Pande