Qawwalis At Sufi Shrines In UP: BJP's Muslim Outreach Ahead Of 2024 Election

The BJP has drawn up a plan that involves spreading messages via qawwali performances to connect with Muslim voters in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2024 national election.

The party will hold talks with Muslim intellectuals and the public at large in UP in a campaign that it calls "Sufi Samvad Maha Abhiyan" in the run-up to the national election next year, Syed Ehtesham Ul Huda, member of the UP minority affairs department, told NDTV.

Mr Huda said Muslim leaders in the BJP will visit dargahs and help organise qawwali performances though which the work that the central government has done for people's welfare will be highlighted.

"We are working on a plan to connect with Muslim voters under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Mr Huda told NDTV. "The BJP minority cell will run a Sufi dialogue campaign across the country," he said.

Muslims who want to visit Sufi shrines can experience qawwali performances and get information about the schemes of the BJP government, he said, adding after the civic election in UP this campaign will be organised at the main dargahs of every city in UP.

For this purpose, a list of Sufi shrines and their khadims has been sought from the offices of the BJP minority cell in UP. Mr Huda said central BJP leaders are also likely to attend the qawwali performances at the Sufi dargahs.

Muslim Jat, Muslim Rajput, Muslim Gurjar and Muslim Tyagi communities have a sizeable number of voters in western UP. "In almost every west UP Lok Sabha constituency, their population is on an average 2.5 lakh," UP BJP minority cell chief Kunwar Basit Ali said yesterday.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Bahujan Samaj Party won Nagina, Amroha, Bijnor and Saharanpur in western UP. Samajwadi Party candidates won Moradabad and Sambhal in the same region.

The BJP is making a comprehensive strategy to win these lost seats and the Muslim outreach is also a part of the overall strategy.