By Anand Rai
Sant Kabirnagar: Peace Party President Dr Ayub, who is trying his luck once again in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, on Tuesday blamed the SP, BSP and Congress for the split in ‘secular’ and Muslim votes, and said if the three come together there will be no division of 90 per cent of these votes.
Under the banner of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) smaller parties like the National Ulama Council led by Maulana Amir Rashadi, Kisan Party led by Kurmi leader Dr BL Verma, Janhit Kisan Party of Shyam Sundar Chaurasia, Nagrik Ekta Party led by Mohammad Shamim have united and entered the poll fray.
The Peace Party of Dr Ayub is contesting 50 seats as part of the UDA.
On the split in Muslim votes and the BJP benefitting from it due to parties like Peace Party, Rashtriya Ulama Council and Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, Dr Ayub said it not Peace Party or Owaisi’s party which is responsible for the victory of the BJP but the Congress, SP and BSP together ensure the victory of the saffron party.
“With secular votes, these parties also divide Muslim votes. Had they (SP, BSP, Congress) been together there would be no division of this 90 per cent votes,” he said.
Dr Ayub, a well-known surgeon hailing from the backward Muslim community of Barhalganj in Gorakhpur district of eastern Uttar Pradesh, founded the Peace Party during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and in the 2012 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, his party had four MLAs.
Dr. Ayub himself won the election from Khalilabad assembly constituency of Sant Kabirnagar district.
Later his party broke and three MLAs removed Dr. Ayub from the post of Legislature Party leader and made Akhilesh Singh of Rae Bareli as their leader.
In 2017, Dr Ayub could not win even a single seat.
In an interview to PTI, Dr Ayub, when asked about split in his party, said, “The SP, BSP, Congress and BJP got scared because of the rise of the Peace Party in 2012, this is absolutely the truth. These parties thought that their existence would be in danger if this (Peace Party) was not stopped. If the secular and Muslim votes all unite then their existence will end.”
Dr. Ayub said it is his priority to prevent the BJP from coming to power for the future of Muslims and most backward, Dalits and downtrodden and added that the BJP is not only an “enemy” of Muslims but a bigger enemy of backwards and Dalits.
About the assembly election results, Dr Ayub claimed that this time his alliance is in a strong position but no one will get a clear majority and there will be a hung assembly.
Asked if he will support the BJP, if needed, he said they will not give support to the BJP at any cost, because “we cannot go with the enemy”.
On the issue of development, he said the BJP would have never formed the government if work and development had yielded results.
He alleged that the BJP only spreads rumours and hatred, and that it had misled people in 2014, 2017 and 2019 but now people have understood the reality.
On what Muslims are thinking in this polls, he said the community is thinking about its future.
“No one has done justice to Muslims and all the governments have exploited them. The community has understood that it should do politics under its own leadership,” he said.
On whether Muslims are inclined towards the Samajwadi Party, he said in 2012, the SP talked about giving 18 per cent reservation to Muslims and when the government was formed, Yadavs were appointed from peon to SDM but Muslims were not given their due.
“There is a difference between their words and deeds. But there is no difference between our words and deeds,” he said.
In 2017, the Peace Party contested on 68 seats and got 1.56 per cent votes though none of its candidates won. In 2012 it contested on 208 seats and not only got 4.54 per cent votes but also had four MLAs.
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