As the curtain comes down on campaigning, on April 24, for the second phase of polling covering five Lok Sabha constituencies, on April 26, the Muslim electorate is at the centre stage as they are expected to play a decisive role in at least three of these.
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The five constituencies going to polls on April 26 are Karimganj, Silchar, Nagaon, Darrang-Udalguri and Diphu. Nagaon, Silchar, and Karimganj are the three constituencies where the Muslim vote matters. As Citizenship (Amendment) Act is an important issue and many Muslims don’t back it, BJP candidates have had to change their strategy to woo the Muslim voters.
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BJP’s Silchar candidate Parimal Suklabaidya talking to GPlus said, “CAA is not an issue in Silchar as people know the benefit and Muslims will vote for development.”
Karimganj BJP candidate Kripanath Mallah talking to GPlus said, “Muslim voters will vote for development and CAA is not an issue. They know that BJP will come to power and development will continue.”
All other leaders of BJP campaigning in the state have changed their tones and are claiming that the Muslims have enormously benefitted from the schemes of the BJP.
Nagaon seat is held by the Congress while the other constituencies are under the BJP. Barring Diphu, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes, the others have sizeable Bengali-speaking Muslim populations.
Bengali Hindus also have a large number of voters in Silchar and Karimganj seats. While Karimganj leads with over 55.7% Muslim voters, Silchar has less than 40%, Nagaon 58%, and Darrang-Udalguri about 40%. Several Muslim-majority Assembly segments, which were parts of erstwhile Kaliabor (now Kaziranga) parliamentary seat, were added to the Nagaon seat following last year’s delimitation exercise, thereby substantially increasing the number of its Muslim voters.
The AIUDF, which is seen as pro Muslim party, has fielded candidates in Nagaon and Karimganj. The Congress candidates in Nagaon and Karimganj are prominent figures but many of their votes may be transferred to the AIUDF.
Congress chief spokesperson Mehdi Alam Bora talking to GPlus said, “Congress will win in Nagaon and Karimganj as the Muslim voters don’t trust AIUDF and there is anti-incumbency against AIUDF.”
"We will win all three seats. We have given away the other 11 seats to Congress, but they (Congress) gave a walkover in all the 11 seats to BJP. They said that we are the B team of BJP, but the Assam Congress is the A-Z team of BJP," media quoted AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal as saying.
The AIUDF manifesto also addressed economic and social issues faced by religious minorities and Bengali-speaking residents in Assam.
It has proposed creating a citizens’ register based on the March 25, 1971 cut-off to address the issue of illegal immigrants.
The party committed to resolving the "D" voter problem, conducting surveys in riverine areas to establish revenue villages, and implementing measures to combat floods and erosion in the state.
The BJP leaders’ pitch is very clear during election rallies. Addressing rallies in Muslim-dominated regions, the leaders stated that their government schemes do not discriminate and people from minority communities are the main beneficiaries of the welfare measures.
The BJP understands that the Muslim vote matters, and all that talk of ‘amar lungi vote na laage’ is just a lot of hot air.