National

No Temple Bells Clang, But...

The BJP may win by default in Faizabad's 'battle of rogues'

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No Temple Bells Clang, But...
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WE demolished the disputed structure because Dar-ul-Islam ulemas at Deoband told us it violated the Quranic hadees. That no place of worship should be known by a mortal's name. The Babri Masjid was an anti-Islamic monument, not a place of worship. By pulling it down we've upheld true Islam. Besides, the domes were leaking and posed a public health hazard!" This is Vinay Katiyar's new line for the Muslims. The Bajrang Dal convenor—sitting BJP MP from Faizabad, who heads the gallery of candidates with dubious credentials—has his own list of hazards. He has earned no love in his constituency, which he has scarcely graced with his presence; the Kusum Mishra rape case in which he's the defendant; allegations of corruption; the anger of the Kurmis who complain he's done nothing for his community; and the erosion of the Brahmin and Kshatriya vote. But he's brazening it out. "I'm popular. I'll win," he declares.

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Katiyar's tormentor-in-chief is Samajwadi Party candidate Mitrasen Yadav, one-time CPI MP from the area, who's banking on an en bloc vote from the 2,65,000 Muslims of Faizabad. With good reason. This is the high-profile arena of Hindutva, and Faizabad city sits cheek-by-jowl with Ayodhya. He's also counting on the Kshatriyas drifting away from the Congress and Katiyar, and a major chunk of the eight lakh-strong Dalit and backward vote coming his way. Ask him about the alleged criminals in the SP, and he goes: "Politically motivated allegations against those who fight injustice". Understandable defence. He, too, has several criminal cases against him.

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The proverbial cat among these pigeons is BSP candidate Mustafa Iqbal, a Sunni businessman expected to cut into a nervous SP's Muslim vote. Disdainful of the SP's charges of his being a BJP stooge, he declares: "The maths is right. We have the Muslim, Dalit and backward votes...that's over 60 per cent. We'll win. Unlike Mulayam. He says he'll protect Muslims but his manifesto is silent on the masjid." And Iqbal is not above exploiting biradari sentiments. "Why shouldn't Muslims vote for one of their own?" he asks.

The others in the fray are no angels either. Yaduvanshram Tripathi, the Congress candidate, had felicitated kar sevaks in '92 in public and lobbied in vain for a BJP ticket this time. Now, even as he canvasses on a Congress ticket, he promotes the BJP line: a uniform civil code and temple construction. The Tiwari faction has put up Ramprakat Dubey, an SP veteran who defected when it became clear he would not get a ticket.

 It seems to be boiling down to a triangular contest between the BJP, SP and BSP. The absence of a Ram lehar notwithstanding, Katiyar could be the unwitting benefi-ciary of a split in the non-BJP votes. As a local political observer says: "The BJP's opponents, unlike last time, haven't closed ranks against the enemy. Katiyar might just win by default."

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