With SP split looming, to back Akhilesh or not, the quandary of UP Muslims

AGRA: Unsure about the fate of the Samajwadi Party, after the father-son split, Muslims in UP are weighing their options to either back

Akhilesh

or shift to the BSP, which is desperately trying to woo them by fielding over 97 candidates from the community.

Prof Saud Alam Quasmi, president of Iqra educational society and former dean of physiology, AMU, said though the community would like to back Akhilesh Yadav, they would be left with no option except to shift their support base to the BSP in case the young

Yadav

fails to create a winning perception, which incidentally eludes the party at present. "If Akhilesh can muster the support of secular parties and form a formidable alliance to beat the BJP, the community would back him to the hilt", he says.

Prof Shakeel Samdani, of the AMU’s law department echoed similar views and said if the SP doesn’t have an alliance before the elections, then the community may shift their support base to the “second best option”, the BSP, as Akhliesh, on his own, doesn’t appear to be a winning “horse”. He admitted that with the BSP giving a “large’ representation to the community in ticket allotment, Mayawati had successfully created a perception of being “pro-Muslims”.

Dr M Wasim Raja, Executive member of NGO, Sir Syed awareness Forum and associate professor in history department in AMU, said. “Muslims are at present indecisive and face a quandary – they like Akhilesh’s clean and secular image but are not sure about his winning abilities”. He said the Muslims don’t want their vote to be fragmented, as that would ensure BJP’s victory.

Raja said in case Akhilesh fails to come up with a winning combination, the community may shift their vote to BSP, provided they are sure that Mayawati would have not truck with the BJP.

Mufti Mohd Zahid, Associate Professor in AMU Theology department, who recently attended a meeting of RSS and Muslim intellectuals from across the country, said, “despite all the talks by the saffron party, they do not want Muslim votes”. Referring to the recent controversial statements of some BJP leaders, Zahid said this clearly shows that they are against the community.

He however said if the SP-Congress fail to have an alliance, the advantage of Mulsim vote would go to the BSP, which has fielded a large number of candidates from the community.

Local Muslim leader in Agra, Haji Jammiluddin Qureshi said Muslims are still “waiting and watching”. He said any combination that can beat the BJP would benefit from the Muslim votes.