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With key states heading to the polls later this year and Lok Sabha elections due next year, the minority wing of the BJP is stepping up its outreach program by handing out testimonials to those who appreciate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “vision and initiatives”.
On Wednesday, the party will award “Modi Mitra” certificates to about 150 Muslims in the town of Deoband, the largest center for Islamic studies in the city.
The Deoband function, which will also be attended by invited beneficiaries of central government programmes, is part of a new mission launched by the BJP in January this year to reach out to minorities and take Modi’s message and welfare initiatives to build a potential base of support among them.
The BJP’s minority Morcha has designated about 65 constituencies in the Lok Sabha – they are found across 10 states and a union territory – where minorities make up more than 30 percent of the population. It has launched a four-month awareness program in these target groups.
This is an attempt to reach out to minorities outside the BJP’s cadre base. We have reached out to many professionals – lawyers, accountants, media professionals, professors, doctors and others – who may not want to be a part of the BJP, but appreciate Modiji’s administration and programmes,” BJP National President Morcha Jamal Siddiqui told The Indian Express.
The party selected one person for each of the 65 Lok Sabha constituencies and one person for each of the seven or eight constituencies in each. These officials chose 30 professionals or businessmen interested in Modi, regardless of their political leanings so far, as common charges. Each of the thirty was required to choose 25 people from their district to join the mission, making a minimum of 750 people in each constituency.
“This will make about 50,000 Modi Mitras from these categories,” a party source said. “They will not be part of the BJP cadre, but they will be a support base,” the source said.
Siddiqui said the exercise would culminate in an event where all members of the “Modi Mitra” will gather in a mega-meeting in Delhi by the end of this year, and “it will be spoken about by Prime Minister Modi himself”.
According to Siddiqui, the Morcha will have data on the Modi Mitra groups and the party will keep in constant contact with them.
We will have all their data, and we will be in touch with them. “We will continuously convey to them every message from the prime minister and the government,” he said.
The recent local body elections in UP showed that the outreach program for minorities, especially for Basmanda Muslims, was good and there was electoral benefit.
The BJP, which was criticized for not fielding Muslim candidates in the elections, had 32 candidates (out of 199) for the presidency of the Nagar Palika Panchayat and five of them won. Sources said that 90 percent of the Muslim candidates who participated in the local assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh are Basamanda Muslims.
The Morcha minority launched the program after Modi’s message at the National Executive Meeting in January to reach out to the Hindus beyond. The Morcha designated Lok Sabha constituencies with a minority population of more than 30 percent.
Of the Lok Sabha seats identified, 13 are in UP and West Bengal, five are in J&K, four are in Bihar, six each are in Kerala and Assam, and three are in Madhya Pradesh among others. These constituencies include the former constituency of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Wayanad.
West Bengal constituencies on the BJP’s list include Berhampur (64 percent minority), Janjipur (60 percent), Murshidabad (59 percent), Jinnagar (30 percent), Bihar, Kishanganj (67 percent), and Katihar (38 per cent), Ararya (32 per cent), Purnia (30 per cent) make the list Kerala parliament seats where the BJP will focus include Wayanad (57 per cent), Malappuram (69 per cent), Ponnani (64 per cent) per cent), Kozhikode (37 per cent), Vadakara (35 per cent), and Kasargod (33 per cent).
Seats from UP included Bainnor (38.33 per cent), Amroha (37.5 per cent), Kirana (38.53 per cent), Nagina (42 per cent), Sambal (46 per cent), Muzaffarnagar (37 per cent) and Rampur (49.14 per cent). percent).
In Haryana, the party identified Gurugram (38 per cent) and Faridabad (30 per cent). Hyderabad (41.17 per cent) and Secunderabad (41.17 per cent) are the Lok Sabha seats in Telangana that feature on the list.
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