The Samajwadi Party, after its apology to Muslims on the Kalyan Singh issue, will now make a concerted effort to consolidate its base among Muslims.
The Samajwadi Party plans to hold a series of conferences across the state, particularly in districts having a sizeable Muslim population. Senior SP leaders, in these c
onferences, will remind Muslims how Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav had saved the Babri mosque from communal forces during his tenure as chief minister.
“The Samajwadi Party is the only political force that genuinely works for the welfare of Muslims and is committed to secularism. We can never compromise on secularism for the sake of power,” says senior party leader Ahmad Hasan.
The SP is keen to focus on Muslims, particularly in view of the fact that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad will be whipping up Hindu sentiments with its Hanuman Shakti Jagran yatras that are to be launched next month.
“The VHP is trying to revive the temple movement and the court case on the Babri title suit is also ready to be wrapped up. In such a situation, the relevance of the Samajwadi Party increases manifold because the party leadership alone can take on communal forces,” said another senior SP MLA.
The Samajwadis, meanwhile, plans to put the Congress in the dock over the issue of Muslims. The party plans to launch a frontal attack on the Congress for its delay in implementing the recommendations of the Sachchar Committee and the Ranganath Misra committee. The idea is obviously to beat the Congress with its own stick when it comes to wooing Muslims in UP.
Though a large number of Muslim clerics have been thronging the SP office in Lucknow to congratulate Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav after his much publicised apology, the party leadership is no longer relying completely on the clergy.
“This time, we are keen to reach out to common Muslims and not the clerics alone. We want to understand the aspirations of common Muslims and reach out to them. The common man in the community is much more bankable than the leaders,” said the SP MLA.
It is precisely for this reason that the SP is in no hurry to invite expelled party leader Mohammed Azam Khan into the party fold.
“This time we are not going to pamper any single leader for minority votes. We would rather reach out to the people themselves. Mr Azam Khan cannot lay any pre-conditions for his return to the party this time,” the MLA added.