Yes, Muslims may vote tactically against the BJP. Here is how

The Congress won about 37 percent of the Muslim vote in the 2009 election, widely considered a key factor in the outcome and subsequent formation of the UPA2.

That’s why neither Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s overtures to the Shahi Imam of the Jama MAsjid nor the Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh’s more recent discussions with senior clerics in Lucknow should be surprising – despite every indication that the so-called “Muslim vote” is actually a diverse identity with the community basing its voting behaviour on a slew of local and regional issues, parties continue to believe that the support of this community is key to winning a national election.

As this report in the Hindustan Times says, conventional political wisdom is that Muslims actually vote strategically and tactically, always backing the “candidate best positioned to defeat the BJP”.

Quoting Muslim leaders as stating that the single most important thing for Muslims is to ensure thta Narendra Modi does not become PM, the report suggests that there are maulanas who receive reports from a constituency – the report cites the example of Pataliputra in Bihar – on how various caste groups are voting.

So, depending on how the four lakh Yadavs, 1.5 lakh Koeris and Kurmis and the Dalits/ Mahadalits are voting, maulanas will be in a position to pass out information on what is the best way to defeat the BJP candidate.

Not all Muslims go by the maulanas’ fatwas. “But if advice is sought, it is given” mostly via mobile phone.

As Firstpost has noted , just how far the clerics’ word travels remains unclear. And there is ample evidence to show that Muslims no longer follow diktats blindly.