Muslim vote splintered, can't be taken for granted

New Delhi: Former UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh is campaigning in Bulandshahr, asking for the Muslim vote.

The man who once encouraged the Ram Temple movement is now sharing a dais with Samajwadi Party’s Mulayam Singh, the man who vowed to defend the Babri Masjid with his life.

It is this cynicism that is leading to some dramatic shifts in minority politics in election 2009. Hyderabad has for long been represented by Asaddudin Owaisi, leader of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, famous for its attacks against author Taslima Nasreen.

But now a Muslim candidate, Zahid Khan, editor of the Urdu daily Siyasat, is opposing him

“People have seen the leadership in the last 50 years, they felt compelled to vote for a particular party. But now they are welcoming new entrants who will work for the nation and the community,” he says.

In Assam, the formation of the Assam United Democratic Front led by a Mumbai-based perfume tycoon Badruddin Ajmal has the Congress scurrying for cover.

In the 2006 Assembly elections, the AUDF - which claims to represent forward-looking Muslim interests - won 10 seats and nine per cent of vote.

“The voter is very angry. He now wants a younger leader who promises change and delivers it,” he says.

Perhaps, the most dramatic, and disturbing, illustration of the changing face of Muslim politics is happening in Azamgarh where a group of clerics have come together to form a party - Ulema Council. Their agenda is questioning the tag of Muslim as terrorist..

But there is no single issue that is determining Muslim voting pattern this time. “Muslims are not limiting themselves to one view and are voting on various issues - which is a very positive change,” says Prof Yogendra Yadav, election expert with CSDS.

So in these elections, the Muslim vote is being splintered more than ever before.

2009 may well be a defining election, one where the Muslim voter is sending out a firm message: his vote can no longer be taken for granted.