Lucknow, AUgust 03: The Samajwadi Party is trying to win over its Muslim leaders who had left the party, particularly after Mulayam Singh Yadav’s handshake with former BJP chief minister Kalyan Singh in the run-up to the last Lok Sabha elections in 2009.
The party is also making efforts to win over grassroots political leaders such as members of block development committees and district panchayats.
“It is necessary to regain the confidence of Muslims who had deserted the party during the Kalyan Singh episode. Azam Khan’s return to the SP was a good sign. But the party can’t reap the benefit of Azam Khan’s presence in the party without bringing back local Muslim leaders,’’ said an SP leader.
For Muslims, Mulayam Singh’s alliance with Kalyan Singh was betrayal. For, it was during Kalyan Singh’s chief ministership that Babri Masjid was demolished. Several Muslims had then left the party, the most prominent among them being Azam Khan. The party is now trying to reassure the Muslims that the Kalyan Singh episode was an aberration.
The party is first focussing on local Muslim leaders in districts where the minority community has considerable presence. “The best example is Moradabad. The party re-inducted Moradabad’s Mayor S T Hasan on June 8,” an SP leader said.
Hasan confirmed that he had returned to the SP. “I was angry with the SP leadership following the Kalyan Singh episode. Now the chapter is over. I see SP as a good platform for the Muslims in the present political circumstances,” he said.
Besides, former MLA Rajiv Channa, who was in BSP, has also now joined the SP in Moradabad. In Bijnore, Abrar Ahemad, chairman of the block development committee of Najibabad, has joined SP after leaving BSP.
Bulandshahr is another district where the SP has tried to bring prominent Muslim faces into its fold. “Azam Khan should be credited for bringing Badruddin Islam into the Samajwadi party. Badruddin was in Rashtriya Lok Dal and he had contested the Bulandshahr Lok Sabha seat in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections,” said an SP leader.
Although Badruddin was never in SP, he is considered to be an important Muslim leader in Bulandshahr. The SP has decided to field him from Sikandarabagh seat in the Assembly elections, it is learnt.
Another Muslim leader of Bulandshahr is Sujat Aalam who left the RLD and joined SP recently. In Bareilly, the party has brought in former MLA Zafaryar Khan. In Badaun, chairman of local municipality Abid Raza recently joined the SP after leaving the Congress.
Azam Khan refused to talk about the party’s efforts to win over Muslim leaders at ground level, but said Kalyan Singh was no longer an issue. “It was Amar Singh who had brought Kalyan Singh close to Mulayam Singh. Mulayam Singh has already tendered an apology,” he said.
-Agencies
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