Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded four candidates, including three women, from the backward Pasmanda Muslim community in the upcoming Delhi civic body polls. Among these candidates is a social activist, a would-be lawyer, and a scrap dealer.
The Pasmanda community comprises 41 castes such as Ansari, Qureshi, Mansoori, Salmani and Siddiqui, in professions such as butchers and weavers, and are considered most backward in social, economic and political terms. The saffron party has fielded Irfan Maliq from Chandni Mahal, Samina Raja from Quraish Nagar, Saba Ghazi from Chauhan Bangar, and Shabnam Maliq from Mustfabad wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
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"The mentality of Muslims is changing with time. People are now focused on the delivery of services and how can they get benefits from the government rather than sticking to the Hindu-Muslim cliche," says candidate Samina, on how she was convincing people to vote for her. Samina, whose family is associated with Delhi BJP, says she has been a social worker as well as an office-bearer in BJP's Mahila Morcha.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Yasir Gilani says although less number of Muslims have been fielded by the party, "our focus is to prove that the BJP can get votes of the minority community and win on seats dominated by them". Underlining the BJP's motto of “sabka saath, sabka vikas”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in July advised party workers to reach out to deprived and downtrodden sections among the minorities also.
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The party had also recently promoted a Gujjar from the Pasmanda community in Jammu and Kashmir—Ghulam Ali Khatana—to the Rajya Sabha.
Chandni Mahal BJP candidate Irfan Maliq, a scrap dealer, says the party slogan of "sabka sath sabka vikas" is now also having an impact on Muslims. "I have been associated with the BJP's minority morcha for the last 10 years. In my ward, the people, including 95 per cent Muslims, are grabbling with the problem of drinking water. People are falling sick, losing their teeth and hair, and facing other problems due to the use of deep borewell water."
Party candidate Shabnam Maliq notes that it is time to remove the misgivings of Muslims about the BJP. "I meet people from my community every day and as a BJP candidate, I do not feel any negative vibes from them," the social worker says, adding that she has pinned her hope of victory on the dominance of Pasmanda Muslims in the Mustafabad area.
Echoing similar sentiments, BJP candidate Saba Ghazi says people are now seeing how the Modi government has benefited them. “People look at their immediate problems. So, they can see for themselves how the Modi government has benefited them and what other parties have done for them,” Saba, who has studied law, adds. The elections for 250 wards of Delhi MCD is scheduled for December 4 and results will be out on December 7.
