The over four lakh minority vote in Varanasi is likely to be spilt into four – Congress, AAP, SP and BSP – as of now,” Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan said here on Tuesday. Khan was interacting with women journalists after his return from Varanasi, where the Congress has pressed into service its Muslim leaders, such as Salman Khurshid, Ghulam Nabi Azad, apart from Khan, to campaign for party candidate Ajay Rai against Narendra Modi of BJP and Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party. Varanasi goes to polls on May 12.

Khan admitted that the community was a disenchanted lot and blamed the Muslim leadership, especially in mainstream parties like the Congress, for failing to gain their confidence.

“I blame leaders like myself for the disenchantment,” said Khan, adding that the seeds of disenchantment were sown after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. “There was a feeling among Muslims that the then Congress government did not protect the community during the violence that followed,” he said. 

Hitting out at Modi’s claim on equal treatment for Muslims in Gujarat, Khan said while Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh paid their 25 per cent share in some minority-centric schemes, Gujarat had refused to do so till the matter landed in court.

Khan, who hails from Karnataka, said the UPA government had done a lot of work for “structured development” of the minorities, such as setting up a separate ministry and including minority development in the five-year Plans, but admitted that the Congress was not being able to “match the BJP in publicity.” 

“We have identified 710 blocks and 66 small towns with more than 25 per cent minority population for the multi-sectoral development programme, where Rs 10 crore each will be spent on buildings, schools, hospitals etc,” he added. 

On the recent violence in Kokrajhar in Assam, Khan said the Minorities Commission was likely to visit the area this week and submit a report.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW