By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net,
Lucknow: Nearly after one and a half months of its inception, Welfare Party
of India (WPI) will take to roads in Lucknow on Friday. The party led by Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mujtaba Farooque, will organize a rally against social issues including corruption at Jhulelal Park in Lucknow on Friday.
However, treading cautiously, WPI stated that it is only one of the participants in the rally. “The rally is being organized by Jan Sangharsh Morcha and WPI leaders are attending it,” said former MP and vice president WPI, Ilyas Azmi.
Azmi stated that beside the WPI other outfits which will also participate in the rally include Azamgarh based Ulema Council, Muslim Majlis, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ambawta), Loktantrik Samajwadi Party (Raghu Thakur), Samajwadi Janta Dal (Chandrashekhar) etc.
Azmi, who is also a former BSP leader, confirmed that WPI leaders including its chief Mujtaba Farooque, vice presidents Zafarul Islam and Abdul Wahab Khilji will be attending the rally. It will raise the issue of eradicating corruption, regularization of contractual government employees, atrocities on farmers among other issues. Already hoardings of Jan Sagharsh Morcha appealing to people for attending the rally have been erected at various places in Lucknow.
Although the WPI refuses to be termed as political unit of Jamaat-e-Islami, but most of the people leading the party, are ideologically close to Jamaat. The party plans to contest in the coming 2012 assembly elections in the state. The outfit is already conducting a survey in Muslim dominated seats while the first worker’s convention of the WPI is scheduled on June 19 in Lucknow.