Wednesday, May 20, 2009
MUSLIM VOTE AIDED CONGRESS RESURGENCE - FROM RAJEEV SHARMA/NEW DELHI - THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL, MUMBAI
http://www.freepressjournal.in/FPJ/FPJ/2009/05/20/ArticleHtmls/20_05_2009_003_011.shtml?Mode=1
MUSLIM VOTE AIDED CONG RESURGENCE
FROM RAJEEV SHARMA/NEW DELHI
MUSLIM voters turned out in large numbers during polling and opted for the Congress, which is the single biggest reason for the party's good showing in the general elections.
According to an internal assessment of the party, the Muslim voters showed a preference for the Congress over SP and BSP and voted for it in a strategic move. The AICC has reached this conclusion after studying the pattern of voting, confirming resurgence of the Congress in an arc that extends from Jammu and Kashmir to Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh to Kerala, as well as from Gujarat to Assam.
The Muslims did not vote for Samajwadi Party because that party joined hands with Kalyan Singh under whose chief ministership the Babri masjid was demolished; and kept away from the Bahujan Samaj Party as they thought that in the event of a fractured mandate, the BSP would support the BJP.
The change in attitude was attributed to many reasons. Ever since the Mumbai terror attack of 26/11 last year, there has been a growing realization among the Muslims that their identification with regional and small parties would lead to alienation in the mainstream, sources told the Free Press Journal.
Therefore, it was in the interest of the Muslims to be associated with national secular parties like the Congress. However, analysts in the Congress have conceded that this logic could be extended to the middle class and educated Muslims, but not to all sections of the Muslims.
Senior Congress leader Jaipal Reddy, who is a D CONG R frontrunner for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker, claimed that he won his election primarily due to Muslim support in his constituency.
The Congress assessment makes a special mention of the Moradabad seat in Western Uttar Pradesh, from where cricketer Mohammand Azaruddin a fresh entrant in politics, won with fifty thousand votes.
The options and ground realities differ from state to state. InUttar Pradesh, where the Muslim vote is 18.5 per cent of 3.51 crore population, the Muslims were unsure about voting for the BSP again because of the buzz that she might take the BJP support to become the Prime Minister.
Muslims in UP were already peeved with the Samajwadi Party because of the Kalyan Singh factor and that is why they did not vote for the SP this time.
Labels: Bahujan Samaj Party, India's Muslim vote, Indian National Congress, Samajwadi Party
