UP elections: BJP will launch campaign to reach out to minorities, target 5,000 votes per seat
With the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh just months away, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has started increasing its strength to garner public support and energize the workers. With an aim to secure minority community votes, the party now plans to target 5,000 votes in each assembly constituency.
The BJP Minority Morcha has decided to train its members to seek votes for the party in the upcoming assembly elections. The party will identify 50 strong workers in each assembly constituency. They will be given training and asked to target 100 votes from the surrounding lanes.
Minority Morcha BJP president Jamal Siddiqui said, “We have analyzed the last elections. About 20 per cent of the assembly seats have been lost by a margin of 5,000 votes. In Bengal too, we have lost a lot of seats by a small margin.” Asked why the party was targeting 5,000 votes.
Siddiqui said the Morcha has identified 50 seats in Uttar Pradesh with more than 60 per cent Muslim population and plans to secure tickets for their community. To boost the morale of BJP’s Muslim workers, the party has a slogan: “Whoever will fight the election, he will advance.”
“It is the responsibility of our community to support us. We want more representation from the party, but it is the responsibility of our community to ensure that our candidates win,” Siddiqui said.
In the last assembly elections, BJP did not give a single ticket to any Muslim candidate in Uttar Pradesh. However, Siddiqui believes that this election is likely to change things.
“We don’t get tickets because we don’t have candidates who can win elections. We should fight from Muslim seats. We can play an important role in connecting with the community,” he said.
Siddiqui has an argument for those – voters and politicians alike – who oppose BJP candidates from their community. “Muslims have 25 per cent stake in BJP because one of its founding members was Sikandar Bakht. Our community does not know these facts. If we are enemies of BJP, why is it that BJP is working for us too, Morcha chief who is preparing for his first national executive post appointment.
Elections in Uttar Pradesh are due early next year.
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