"BJP ploy to woo Muslim leaders will not translate into votes"

By Kuleen Kapoor

Ahmedabad, Feb. 27: The Bharatiya Janata Party may have tried to play the Muslim trump card by flirting with Najma Heptulla and inducting Arif Mohammad Khan on board, but the Muslim community remains unmoved about its decision of voting against the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Shell shocked by the acts of both the Muslim leaders, minorities termed it as "opportunistic". Many minority members The Indian Post talked to said the BJP will not gain any favour from the minority community by portraying a "revised" moderate figure. It is an obvious attempt to consolidate minority votes, they said.

G.S. Bandukwalla, a professor in Baroda, whose house was burnt down by a mob during Gujarat riots in 2002, expressed his ire over Khan’s joining the BJP. "He is the man who held Bajrang Dal and VHP responsible for the burning of the Sabarmati Express and now he himself has joined the gang. What an opportunist he is," he said. As for Heptulla, he said, "She has, anyway, not done anything useful for the community in 24 years in the Rajya Sabha, so her loss doesn’t seem regrettable." As for Muslims voting for BJP’s moderate image, he said, "The Muslim community will definitely vote against the BJP in the state."

"Not just in the state, but the BJP will fail to bag Muslim votes all over India," said Aneesa Mirza, Ahmedabad mayor. She said she was shocked to learn about Khan and Heptulla deceiving Congress, the party which had always held them in great esteem.

Delhi based activist Shabnam Hashmi, who is considered "close to Sonia", said that Congress had sensed Heptulla’s intentions when she received an award from RSS six months back. She added, "But I am shocked by the decision of a respectable man like Arif to join the BJP as he was the only man who took a stand in the Shah Bano case and resigned from the Congress." However, she added, that any sensible Muslim would not vote for the party that "exposed its intentions during the Gujarat riots in 2002".

Gujarat high court advocate Hasim Kureishi said the BJP will not be able to improve its minority votes in the coming elections. Talking about Heptulla and Khan, he said it is the Congress that is responsible for their acts.

On the other hand, he said, these leaders might be "a plant by Congress to break into the BJP. More than BJP it might work for the Congress".