AS DRUNK driving leads to fatal accidents, similarly mixing religion into politics can also adversely affect the prospects of any political party and we have the glaring example of Bharatiya Janta Party to understand it better. They rose to power at the Centre by arousing and playing with the religious sentiments of the electorate who dumped them later on as they understood that leaders of BJP were misusing the name of Ram and were playing with their sentiments in order to gain political mileage.

 

Something of that sort has happened once again in Uttar Pradesh where Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav has been caught on wrong foot. He shared the meet with the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Imam Bukhari who has asked the members of Muslim community to vote and support Samajwadi party candidates in the Uttar Pradesh elections.

 

Many political parties have already condemned the move. The leaders of Jan Sangharsh Morcha (JSM) which comprises of the three leading Muslim political parties of Uttar Pradesh have also condemned the use of Imam Bukhari by the Samajwadi Party.

 

Well it is interesting to note that Bukhari is in the news for all the wrong reasons and so is Azam Khan, the Muslim mascot of the Samajwadi Party. Is Khan sulking because Bukhari has been given prominence over him? Maybe but as I said Bukhari has made news for all the wrong reasons.

 

On a political platform he has asked Muslims to vote for the Samajwadi Party but it was in 2006 that the same Imam was asking people to vote for the BJP and was leading a Muslim outfit called the United Democratic Front.

 

The national convenor of the Jan Sangharsh Morcha in Uttar Pradesh, Akhilendra Pratap Singh, has condemned the statement and appeal made by Bukhari. The Jan Sangharsh Morcha is a front that comprises the Ulema Conference, the Welfare Party of India and the Momin Conference. It is trying to create Muslims as an independent force in the state and is expected to romp home with at least 5 to 10 MLAs. These could play a crucial role in the event of any party falling short of absolute majority in the house which can easily be gauged from the trends that have come out in the opinion polls.

 

He believes this is a desperate move by a political party to woo Muslim votes. The Muslim voter is now aware of the political happenings following good media coverage. Things are not the same as they were a decade back and so Bukhari’s dream may not come true as Muslims in the state too, have started thinking of their own welfare and they do not trust religious heads blindly as they used to do some 10 years back.

 

Another leader of a prominent party said the time of “Fatwa politics” was over and the electorate would cast their ballot on the issues of development and good governance.

 

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh has already dubbed Bukhari as “irrelevant” in Uttar Pradesh politics. In a statement giving to the media, he said Bukhari factor would not make any impact on the Congress poll prospects. He said the Muslims in Uttar Pradesh were well aware of the deeds of all and they know whom to elect and support.

 

It will be not out of place to mention here that Bukhari did campaigning for BJP candidate Smriti Irani and had asked the Muslims to support her in the elections. Now he has changed his side once again and has come to the rescue of Muslim community, and has been depicting himself as the only champion fighting for the cause of Muslim community.

 

Janta Dal United general secretary Subhash Pathak has also said his party was against the use of religion in politics. “Our party gives equal respect to all religions and so to all priests and religious heads but then they must not interfere in the work of politicians. If we will start mixing religion into politics it would pose grave threat to the secular fabric of the nation and will not be in accordance to the spirit of Indian Constitution,” says Subhash Pathak.