By Abdul Hameed, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai: In an attempt to bring Muslim clerics into party fold and strengthen its grip of the community ahead of the general elections BSP supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has nominated Maulana Maudood Madani, leader of Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind and son of late Maulana Asad Madani as the party candidate form Amroha Lok Sabha constituency in western Uttar Pradesh.
In the party workers meeting recently, Mayawati announced that Madani, brother of MP and Jamiat leader Maulana Mahmood Madani, would contest the Lok Sabha elections from Amroha. She said that that the party is in need of his service. Maudood Madani has recently joined the BSP.
When contacted, Maulana Maudood Madani told TwoCircles.net that he joined BSP seeing the broader benefit of the Muslims and other backward communities.
“India has a cosmopolitan society in which people from different religions and caste reside. Unfortunately, Muslims have been victims of discrimination and backwardness in the country and so are the Dalits. There is an urgent need of strong collaboration of both the communities that are ignored and subjugated. Bahujan Samaj Party is such a platform where the collaboration can easily take place, therefore I have joined it,” Madani told TCN.
Asked why he did not join other political parties like SP or Congress he said that he had always been opposing SP and now it has included Kalyan Singh in its fold and as far as the Congress is concerned it does not have any hold in UP and Bihar; so needless to think of joining it.
Making it clear that his decision to join BSP was personal and any organization had nothing to do with it, he said, “According to the constitution of Jamiat Ulama any member of it is free to join any secular and non-communal party and serve the nation. The decision I have taken is completely personal.”
Maudood Madani added, “Mayawati has promised a lot to Muslims; seeing the benefit of the community I have joined it. If it does not fulfill its promise an alternative may be thought of. But I think that Mayawati will surely stand by her promise as she did in the past.”
It is noteworthy that in western Uttar Pradesh Jamiat Ulama has great influence and in past the then general secretary of the organization Maulana Hifzur Rahman had been Lok Sabha member from Amroha in 1957 and 1962.