Madrassas To Become Epicentre Of Bjp’s Minority Outreach In Up On Pm Modi’s B’day | Lucknow News – Times of India

LUCKNOW: As many as 74 selected madrassas straddling across Uttar Pradesh will become the epicentre of BJP‘s minority outreach campaign on Tuesday when PM Narendra Modi celebrates his 74th birthday.
Informed sources in the BJP said that the party has tasked its minority wing to carry out the campaign that seeks to bring at least 7,400 members (100 from in and around each madrassa) from the Muslim community into the saffron fold.
The 74 madrassas are primarily located in the west UP districts like Saharanpur, Bijnor, Moradabad, Meerut, Aligarh, Amroha, and Agra. A host of east UP districts like Basti and Bahraich would also be covered under the campaign.
Confirming the development, UP BJP minority wing chief Basit Ali said that the campaign happens to be part of the party’s membership drive which seeks to cut across caste and religious lines.
He said that the party would essentially highlight how the BJP govt led by PM Modi has not only empowered the minority community through various welfare measures but has also augmented India’s relations with around 56 Islamic nations.
According to a schedule charted out by the BJP minority wing, the campaign would be carried out between September 17 and October 2 (Gandhi Jayanti). It will include organising events in and around madrassas and dargahs (shrines) while reaching out to minority educational institutions and influential Sufi leaders.
BJP sources said that the party plans to take the help of lesser known outfits, Jamaat Ulama e Hind and Ulama Foundation (UF), which have been supportive of the saffron outfit.
In fact, Jamaat national president Suhaib Qasmi happens to be a member of BJP. Likewise, UF, too, has been backing BJP for quite some time. It was only two years ago when UF chief Maulana Kokab Mujtaba claimed to have received a life threat for supporting BJP.
Political experts said that BJP’s outreach campaign toward the Muslim community could well be a strategic move to counter the opposition’s reliance on minority support ahead of the ensuing by-elections on 10 assembly seats and subsequently the 2027 state elections. Given that the Muslim community has traditionally distanced itself from the saffron party, the initiative marks a shift in BJP’s engagement strategy.
Analysts said that by working to improve its image among Muslim voters, the BJP aims to blunt the opposition’s aggressive positioning besides broadening its support base while addressing their perception of “exclusion” and projecting a more inclusive political stance.
The development, not surprisingly, has evoked a sharp response from the opposition quarters. Samajwadi Party national spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi termed it a sheer “political gimmick” of the BJP. “Madrassas have always been negative spots for the ruling BJP. It always conspired to get them closed. And now for the sake of politics, they are trying to reach out to Muslims by campaigning in and around madrassas. The BJP needs to clarify where Muslims stand in their scheme of things,” he said.