Lucknow, Feb. 23: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched a campaign as part of its Muslim outreach program in preparation for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The campaign involves distributing posters and banners with messages in Urdu and strategically placing them in mosques, dargahs, and madrasas in Muslim-concentration areas of Uttar Pradesh (UP). This initiative is part of the BJP’s micro-management strategy, focusing on Muslim-dominated seats in UP where tough competition is expected from the opposition, particularly the Samajwadi Party (SP). The BJP has identified 23 Lok Sabha seats for the Urdu poster campaign, focusing on areas like Saharanpur, Kairana, Bijnor, Baghpat, Meerut, and others.
In addition to religious institutions, posters will also be displayed outside the homes of BJP’s Muslim booth presidents in minority-concentration areas. With Muslims having a significant presence in around 40,000 polling booths in UP, and nearly 10,000 supervised by the party’s Muslim booth presidents, this move aims to establish a direct connection with the community.
According to reports, Basit Ali, UP BJP minority morcha chief emphasized the importance of Urdu in reaching out to Muslims. He stated, “A good number of Muslims have an affinity towards Urdu. In fact, they read only Urdu text. We need to tap such people and convey the party’s message to them.” Ali highlighted that many Muslims have benefited from government welfare schemes and it’s time for them to support the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Earlier, the BJP initiated the ‘Qaumi Chaupal’ campaign in nearly 4,100 Muslim-concentration villages. The party aims to gauge the pulse of Muslim voters through these outreach efforts, following recent events such as the Ayodhya consecration ceremony and the ongoing legal dispute over the Gyanvapi complex in Varanasi. The BJP sees these initiatives as crucial in consolidating support from the Muslim community in the upcoming elections.
However, political experts point out that by carrying out “Urdu Posters” campaign, the BJP is engaging in “tokenism” and “appeasement”; a policy it accused the Congress of to please certain vote banks. It is a stark exhibition of double standards and portrays the ruling party in a poor light.
