Rampur: While more than half of the population of Rampur, India, is Muslim, its member of parliament has a steadfast support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s toned Hindu-first agenda.
Many in the Hindu-majority state of India view victory for Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) as a recipe for defeat in the upcoming general elections and view Muslim candidates as a recipe for defeat.
Muslim representation in parliament has nearly half lost out to less than 5 % since the 1970s, compared to India’s 220 million Muslims, who make up just under a second of its 1.4 billion people.
When the six-week-long elections in Uttar Pradesh state’s capital city begin on April 19th, Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi, who is confident of winning the seat, said,” Everyone wants a connect with BJP.”
Lodhi, a Hindu, replaced Rampur’s Muslim MP in a 2022 by- vote, jumping send from the last senator’s party to become a BJP nationalist.
Muslim officials worry at the lack of picture. There were just 27 Muslim MPs in the 543- seats lower apartment in parliament- and none of them were among the BJP’s 310 politicians.
Members of the beliefs have long trusted liberal parties, according to author of a guide on Muslims in India, Ziya Us Salam, who claims this has led to an “acute absence of Muslim leadership.”
A flagrantly Arab leader may be questioned as stoking sectarian divisions today, but Modi’s support for a” Hindu Rashtra,” or Hindu state, is unmistakable.
” Nobody talks of ( Modi ) being the leader of only Hindus”, Salam said.
He contends that areas with significant Muslim communities have been divided by redistricting policies that have been implemented since 1947.
” NOT ABLE TO Voting”
Since 1952, Rampur has elected Muslim MPs 15 out of 18.
But Kanwal Bharti, a 71- yr- ancient activist and writer from the city, said the BJP’s dominance means that it “does n’t seemed possible again” for a Muslim candidate to win Rampur.
Mohammad Azam Khan, the final Muslim MP in Rampur, was a former legislator before resigning after more than 80 legitimate proceedings, including those involving intimidation of government officials.
His followers claimed that many of the complaints date back decades and that they were only made hastily after the BJP won state votes in 2017 with little delay.
In 2023, Khan was imprisoned for three times for expressing love against his party foes.