Muslim women have chosen to bless the BJP, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi

*Paromita Das

Muslims hold a significant number of Assembly seats in the state. The BJP Minority Morcha has chosen 40 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh with a minority population of 60-70 % and 100 Assembly seats with a minority population of 30 %.

Muslims account for slightly less than 20% of Uttar Pradesh’s overall population, while other minorities account for roughly 1% of the state’s population.

Syed Yasir Jilani, national media in-charge of the BJP Minority Morcha, told IANS that Muslim women who benefited from the Modi government’s social initiatives are rallying behind the BJP and the Prime Minister.

“After witnessing Muslim women’s enormous support for Prime Minister Modi, we have resolved to reach out to these ladies.” “We are creating a list of Muslim women beneficiaries to reach out to families seeking BJP support ahead of the Assembly elections,” Jilani said.

Jilani, who is assisting the local unit in Sambhal district alongside other national capital party leaders, claimed that Muslim women are mentioning a number of government programs that have benefited them.

“Muslim women are opposing their male relatives by supporting Prime Minister Modi and the BJP.”

“Muslim women are disobeying their male relatives by voting for Prime Minister Modi and the BJP. They claim that their family benefited from the PM Awas Yojna, the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, which supplied free rations, the Ujjwala Yojana, and other Centre-sponsored initiatives. These women have openly backed Modi. They are also grateful to the Prime Minister for prohibiting immediate triple talaq “Jilani asserted.

The BJP Minority Morcha is now planning to reach out to Muslim women in small groups of four to five workers in order to turn their support into votes. The BJP workers would inform these women about the benefits of government programs launched by both the Center and the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh.

Opposition leaders take great pleasure in promoting his pro-Hindu posture, while facts tell a different tale. There is evidence that suggests that throughout his four and a half years as UP Chief Minister, Muslims have benefited the most. Yogi’s hallmark ‘One District One Product’ initiative has benefited Muslims the most.

The ODOP scheme has been vigorously promoted by the UP government during the last four years, resulting in the recovery of indigenous enterprises, many of which were dying out.

Surprisingly, a considerable number of enterprises in the ODOP scheme have been supported by Muslims.

Whether it is the resurrection of the lock industry in Aligarh, brassware in Moradabad, bells and ‘ghunghroos’ in Etah, leather products in Agra, shoes in Hamirpur, carpets in Bhadohi, chikan and zardozi in Lucknow, or glassware in Firozabad, Muslims working in these sectors have directly benefited.

“For the first time, we discovered a government encouraging locally created items, which provided us with a platform to showcase our skills and increase our trade,” said Mohd Haroon, an Etah bell maker.

Weavers from Azamgarh, Mau, and Varanasi also benefited from the ODOP scheme.

“The officials’ initiative assisted us in becoming digital, and despite the pandemic lockdowns, we were able to sell our products online.” “We had local officials assisting us in conducting digital transactions and keeping business afloat during the pandemic,” said Yusra Amin, owner of a silk garment boutique in Varanasi.

While the ODOP programs helped to monetarily empower the Muslim community, the Yogi government also helped to enhance and improve Muslim educational institutions.

“The developments that have occurred in Madrasa education in the last four years are unprecedented,” stated Madrasa Board member Zirgamuddin. The Yogi Adityanath government regularized the school year, allowing our kids to attend colleges and institutions for further education.

He went on to say that the Yogi Adityanath government had implemented the NCERT syllabus in order to bring madrasa education up to par with other schools.

Danish Azad, a member of the UP Bhasha Samiti, stated that the state has 17,000 private and 558 supported madrasas, and that their upgradation and improvement has impacted the kids’ future.

The Yogi Adityanath government has set aside Rs 479 crore for a madrasa modernisation scheme, Rs 829 crore for minority male and female students scholarships, and Rs 588 crore for a multi-sectoral districts plan to provide basic infrastructure in minority-dominated districts.

The Yogi Adityanath government has been heavily chastised for discriminating against Muslims on matters like as triple talaq and ‘love jihad.’

Yogi Adityanath’s most significant success that has benefited minorities, particularly Muslims, is that Uttar Pradesh has not experienced a major communal riot during the BJP government.

In the midst of the ongoing hijab controversy that began in BJP-ruled Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at his first physical rally in the 2022 UP polls from Saharanpur in western Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, reached out to Muslim women, saying the opposition was blocking their bid to connect with the Bharatiya Janata Party because it was afraid of losing their support.

Modi’s appeal to Muslim women is his second after his February 8 virtual rally in West UP, where he detailed how abolishing triple talaq (quick divorce) eliminated their exploitation. The gathering on Thursday coincided with the start of the seven-phase UP elections for 58 assembly seats in 11 districts in the state’s western region. Long lines of Muslim women were witnessed outside polling booths in some of these assembly constituencies with a high minority population. The next round of voting will take place in West UP on February 14, with 53 assembly divisions voting. These 113 seats in western Uttar Pradesh have a sizable Muslim population.

“My government prioritises participation of daughters in development marches.” Muslim women who have been liberated from the exploitative practise of triple talaq are well aware of this. The rule we enacted against this practise gave women in society a sense of security. but when the BJP began to garner support from these ladies, who began posting videos in our government’s praise, the vote cultivators became restless;” Modi added.

“They were concerned when their daughters began shouting Modi Modi and had cramps.” These vote cultivators considered stopping their daughters from siding with me after seeing their daughters’ words and recordings. They began to believe that if their daughters allied with me, they would begin to dominate the house as well, and thus these people are attempting to mislead Muslim women. “However, my administration stands by all exploited and oppressed Muslim women, which is why a Yogi government is essential in UP,” he stated.

Earlier in his virtual outreach, Modi had positioned himself as a leader who was more concerned with benefiting Muslim women than with garnering votes.

“Despite criticism, I proceeded with the termination of the triple talaq practise.”

“I didn’t care about votes; I worried about the condition of women,” he had stated at the time, adding that his government’s decision to extend the marriageable age of women to 21 years would also assist Muslim women in pursuing their ambitions.

“My administration is working on a long-term solution to your problem so that you always obtain a fair price for your produce, regardless of global sugar demand.” That is why, in addition to sugar, we have begun generating ethanol from sugar, and UP has already received 12,000 crore from this. This sum is being used to your advantage, and believe me when I say that additional benefits will follow;” Modi remarked.