The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plans to hold conferences in various parliamentary constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh, starting from Muzffarnagar next month, to woo Muslim communities that have an influence in the region.
The conferences on the theme "Sneh Milan: Ek Desh, Ek DNA, Sammelan", being held with an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. will try to drive home the point that everyone's DNA is the same and together they can take the country forward.
“Muslim Jat, Muslim Rajput, Muslim Gurjar, and Muslim Tyagi communities have a sizeable number of voters in western Uttar Pradesh. In almost every Lok Sabha constituency of western Uttar Pradesh, their population is on an average 2.5 lakh," said Uttar Pradesh BJP Minority Morcha president Kunwar Basit Ali.
“The party will try to connect with these voters by organising 'Sneh Milan: Ek Desh, Ek DNA, Sammelan' in various west Uttar Pradesh districts," he said. These conferences would start after Eid next month.
Hindu leaders to join conferences
Hindu leaders of the Jat, Rajput, Gurjar, and Tyagi communities would be on stage in these conferences. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, state BJP president Bhupendra Chaudhary, Muzaffarnagar MP Sanjeev Balyan and state minister Somendra Tomar will be prominently involved, he said.
“Holding of these conferences is an attempt to establish a cordial relationship among Hindu, Muslim Jats, Rajputs, Gujjars and Tyagi fraternities and trying to convince them that we are all one, born in the same place. Everyone's DNA is the same and together we have to take the country forward," he said.
"When this happens, it will strengthen the social fabric and they will connect with their leaders. As the leaders belong to the BJP, the party will benefit from it," he said.
"Yes, of course we can call it a part of the strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections," Ali said.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Bahujan Samaj Party had won Nagina, Amroha, Bijnor and Saharanpur in western Uttar Pradesh. Samajwadi Party candidates had won the Moradabad and Sambhal seats in the region.
At present, out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the ruling BJP has 65 seats. The Bahujan Samaj Party has 10 seats, the Samajwadi Party has three and BJP's ally Apna Dal-Sonelal has two seats.
