New Delhi: The Minority Front of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday launched a year-long outreach program for Muslims called Sufi Samvad. Launched for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the campaign is particularly focused on Muslim-majority districts in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala and Telangana. According to the party’s Minority Morcha chief Jamal Siddiqui, a team of 150 people associated with Sufism has been formed for the campaign, which will culminate in a large gathering addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The initiative comes months after Prime Minister Modi suggested that party workers reach out to Sufis, Bohras and Pasmandas in the country’s Muslim community.
“The initiative has been taken on the instructions of Prime Minister Modi to reach out to Sufis who are advocates of peace and harmony,” Siddiqui told reporters here.
Sufi Samvad Maha Abhiyan #muslimswithbjp pic.twitter.com/PhQCSywjm0– BJP Minority Morcha (@BJPMinorcha) March 15, 2023
To mark the launch of the campaign on Wednesday, people working in Sufi dargahs from 30 states and union territories gathered at the BJP headquarters to strengthen various programs under the campaign.
Media coordinator of the program Yasir Jilani said the fact is that the Modi government has worked for all irrespective of caste, creed and religion and the aim is to reach out to the Muslim community and spread this message.
Most of the programs under this initiative will be organized in Muslim-majority districts and have a substantial Muslim population.
Special attention will be given to Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala, Bihar and Telangana, which together send 199 members to the Lok Sabha.
Earlier in March, the BJP created history by regaining control of Tripura, Nagaland, and Meghalaya, three northeastern states that recently held assembly elections, and keeping them under its control with the help of its allies. The saffron party won the elections in Nagaland and Tripura with the help of its alliance partner NDPP. The National People’s Party, led by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, emerged as the largest party with 26 seats, and is now contesting to form the next administration in Meghalaya. While they were allies in the previous administration, the elections were openly contested by the BJP and the NPP.
Assembly elections to be held in six states later in 2023
From Northeast, Central to South India, assembly elections will be held in nine states this year. After the three northeastern states, high-level electoral battles are yet to take place in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. These assembly elections will undoubtedly set the tone for the much-awaited Lok Sabha battle of 2024 – the mother of all elections.
While 2022 was a year in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continued its political dominance (barring a few hiccups in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh), this year’s performance will determine whether it wins its third consecutive term. Will register electoral victory in 2024 general elections.