By IANS
Ahmedabad : The Congress party will be trying to garner the votes of the minority community in the forthcoming Gujarat assembly elections by highlighting the steps the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has taken at the centre for the welfare of the minorities.
Unlike in the last elections, the minorities will not be a key campaign issue for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won the polls by carrying out a high-pitch campaign on the Godhra incident and the communal polarisation. The party is unlikely to touch the issue this time in the context of Gujarat polls.
“The state has been peaceful in the last five years. There has been no major incident of violence and the development has been inclusive. Why should the old issues be raked up again and again?” says BJP spokesperson Yamal Vyas. For the BJP, the major election issue will be development.
But the Congress plans to play up in its campaign the steps the UPA government has taken for the minority development.
“In the last five years we have fought for their interests. We co-ordinated with the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for the rehabilitation of the riot victims in Gujarat. The centre has recently announced an additional compensation of Rs.700 million for the victims. We are going to propagate these issues in our meetings in Muslim areas,” says Congress leader Jayantilal Parmar.
The Congress will also be putting forward before the Muslim electorate its commitment to implementing the recommendations of the Sachar Committee that looked into the causes of backwardness amongst Muslims.
“Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also announced a 15-point programme for the development of the minorities. In addition to this, for the first time a separate ministry for minority affairs was also set up. We are going to take these points before the electorate,” Parmar told IANS.
Asked what would the Congress promise the Muslims of Gujarat if elected to power, he replied that the promises would be specified in the party manifesto.
But the Muslims in the state are not happy with the Congress. “For us, it is a matter of compulsion to vote for them. Since there is no third force, the Congress takes us for granted,” says Saeed Umerji, a resident of Godhra.
“In the last five years, lots of promises have been made to those affected by the riots. Several announcements have also been made, particularly by the central government. But they have not translated into anything as yet,” says Amin Syed, a social activist working amongst the riot victims in Vadodara and the adjoining areas of central Gujarat.
Syed claims it is after a gap of five years that the Muslims living in resettlement colonies have managed to get ration cards.
“So many committees have come and gone, but our plight remains the same. They come here, make us repeat our miseries before them, make promises and go back. We are told that we will get some help. But nothing concrete has come our way till now,” says Firoz, a resident of Naroda Patiya who is currently living in a resettlement colony in Juhapura, a Muslim ghetto in Ahmedabad.