2017 Polls: #BSP woos Muslim voters in west UP

In a bid to recover from the poor performance in last year’s Lok Sabha polls and reclaim power in the 2017 Assembly elections, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has launched a campaign to woo Muslim voters in western Uttar Pradesh.

The first phase of the campaign, led by BSP general secretary Nasimuddin Siddiqui, intends to reach out to Muslims and resolve differences, if any, between Dalits, party’s core support base, and Muslims, especially after the 2013 communal riots in Muzaffarnagar, party sources said.
Siddiqui, who was made the party’s in-charge for Muslim-dominated western UP after its dismal performance in Lok Sabha polls, has been assigned the task to secure the Dalit vote bank in the region, and keep them free from any possible influences of the BJP and RSS.

As part of this campaign, Siddiqui held separate meetings, also called cadre camps, for the Muslim community since last month in Shamli and Thana Bhawan constituencies of Shamli district. He is slated to address similar meetings is in Shamli on Friday, and in Modinagar constituency of Ghaziabad district on Saturday.

“These are cadre camps for Muslims and they are being planned in all the constituencies. We call local Muslims to attend these meetings and convince them how the community, which is facing new conflicts each day during the SP government, was safe during the BSP government,” said a BSP coordinator from the region, preferring anonymity.

Apart from these early campaigns ahead of the Assembly elections in 2017, the BSP chief Mayawati has chosen a good number of Muslims among the probables for nearly 300 seats, and also appointed Muslims at the lone posts of vice-presidents in most of the districts in western UP.