New political outfit — Indian Secular Front (ISF) announced to hit back Mamta Banerjee, TMC minister and JUH leader hits out at ISF, says Muslim voters will choose security
Siyasat net web desk
KOLKATA: West Bengal minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury has sought to play down the new political party – ISF(Indian Secular Front) floated by Furfura Sharif cleric Abbas Siddiqui saying the split in Muslim votes in the upcoming Assembly elections will be “minimal”.
Aheadof the West Bengal Assembly elections, Abbas Siddiqui, the cleric of Furfura Sharif in Hooghly district, announced his political outfit — Indian Secular Front (ISF)
Furfura Sharif is the state’s most prominent medieval shrine and holds influence over Muslims in south Bengal.
“Muslims of the state know it is the election of their future, of their children’s future. One mistake can cost them a lot. The main issue this time for the community is security and shelter,” Chowdhury told here.
Abbas Siddiqui, who is a bitter critic of the Mamata Banerjee government, launched the Indian Secular Front this week with support from AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi.
The minister also claimed that the situation for the ruling Trinamool Congress was improving from that in 2019 when the BJP netted more than a 40% of the vote share in the Lok Sabha elections.
Chowdhury, who is also the president of the state unit of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, added the TMC has launched a state-wide movement to prevent any attempt to divide minority votes on communal lines. The state’s 30 per cent Muslim votes are crucial as they can influence the outcome in 110 out of 294 assembly seats.
“Nearly 12 per cent of the Muslim vote come from various Imam and madrasa associations across the state. A Muslim today does not even want to think of options, because he knows this is not the time. We are telling them corruption happens everywhere, everybody makes a few mistakes. But we have to look at the future,” he said.
Chowdhury added that a lot of effort is going into Muslim-majority areas like north Dinajpur, Malda and Murshidabad, where the Congress used to have greater traction until recently.
Taking on Siddiqui, he said: “The founders of Furfura Sharif were men of Ibadat(penance) . By bringing in political ambitions, the character of the place is being changed. Even the seniors there are against what Abbas is doing.”
Chowdhury said the entry of AIMIM into Bengal politics “is unfortunate”, and asked why Owaisi went “stealthily” to Siddiqui without talking to other clerics.
Chowdhury, who was in a controversy for blocking vaccine vans during a protest against Centre’s farm laws, defended his action. “Our lands are in danger. I was doing what needed to be done,” he said.
According to political observers, new party-ISF led by Siddiqui may emerge as a key factor in division of Bengali speaking Muslim votes which, so far, was with TMC in south Bengal and with Congress in parts of north Bengal.
Meanwhile, Responding to the allegations that his outfit is a ploy to split the Muslim vote and help the BJP, Siddiqui made an oblique reference to the Trinamool Congres and said: “There was no BJP before the 2011. Who is to be blamed for the rise of the BJP?”
He accused the ruling party of not fulfilling the promises made to the minorities in the state.
“It was Trinamool Congress which allowed BJP to get into Bengal and win 18 Lok Sabha seats. I have a constitutional right to announce a political party,” said Siddiqui.
Muslims constitute 27.01 percent of the population in West Bengal and they have since 2011 been voting overwhelmingly in favour of TMC. A split in Muslim votes is likely to split Mamata’s so-called vote bank in the state.
AIMIM’s Owaisi has declared that his party will be forming an alliance with Islamic cleric Abbas Siddiqui and will be contesting in 100 odd seats.
While this has been criticised by the West Bengal Imam organization, this is expected to heat up the competition for the Muslim vote.
TMC was ahead of the BJP by just 3% votes in the 2019 general elections. A loss of support of even 10% of the community support to AIMIM or Mahajot could rob Mamata of 3% vote share and placing her party on an equal pedestal with BJP.
Aggressive wooing of the community by opposition parties comes with a risk of counter-polarisation. Mamata needs to guard against this as polarisation helps the BJP, and, at the same time, prevent a split of community votes.
(www. Siyasat.net is Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India based website)
An Appeal For The Sake Of Upright & Fearless Brand Of Journalism
To sustain and improve our coverage. Gujarat siyasat- a vernacular Fortnightly and English٫ Hindi Website www.siyasat.net
Your little but timely support is needed۔
Bank details، GUJARAT SIYASAT, Current Account 204720110000318, ifsc code BKID0002047 BANK OF INDIA , VASNA BRANCH, AHMEDABAD GUJARAT INDIA
Also on Phone pay, Paytm,Google pay +91 9925531111
We hope you help and see siyasat.net grow. And rejoice that your contribution has made it possible.
सत्य को ज़िंदा रखने की इस मुहिम में आपका सहयोग बेहद ज़रूरी है। आपसे मिली सहयोग राशि हमारे लिए संजीवनी का कार्य करेगी और हमे इस मार्ग पर निरंतर चलने के लिए प्रेरित करेगी। याद रखिये ! सत्य विचलित हो सकता है पराजित नहीं।
Regards,
Abdulhafiz Lakhani
editor@siyasat.net
