Cover story/Opinion : Demystifying the Vote Bank
May 23, 2025
  • Read Ecopy
  • Circulation
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
Organiser
  • ‌
  • Bharat
    • Assam
    • Bihar
    • Chhattisgarh
    • Jharkhand
    • Maharashtra
    • View All States
  • World
    • Asia
    • Europe
    • North America
    • South America
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Global Commons
  • Editorial
  • International
  • Opinion
  • Op Sindoor
  • More
    • Analysis
    • Sports
    • Defence
    • RSS in News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Economy
    • Culture
    • Special Report
    • Sci & Tech
    • Entertainment
    • G20
    • Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav
    • Vocal4Local
    • Web Stories
    • Education
    • Employment
    • Books
    • Interviews
    • Travel
    • Law
    • Health
    • Obituary
    • Podcast
MAGAZINE
  • ‌
  • Bharat
    • Assam
    • Bihar
    • Chhattisgarh
    • Jharkhand
    • Maharashtra
    • View All States
  • World
    • Asia
    • Europe
    • North America
    • South America
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Global Commons
  • Editorial
  • International
  • Opinion
  • Op Sindoor
  • More
    • Analysis
    • Sports
    • Defence
    • RSS in News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Economy
    • Culture
    • Special Report
    • Sci & Tech
    • Entertainment
    • G20
    • Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav
    • Vocal4Local
    • Web Stories
    • Education
    • Employment
    • Books
    • Interviews
    • Travel
    • Law
    • Health
    • Obituary
    • Podcast
Organiser
  • Home
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Operation Sindoor
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Culture
  • Defence
  • International Edition
  • RSS in News
  • Magazine
  • Read Ecopy
Organiser Weekly is Hiring!
Home Bharat

Cover story/Opinion : Demystifying the Vote Bank

Cover story/Opinion : Demystifying the Vote Bank

by Archive Manager
Mar 20, 2017, 12:37 pm IST
in Bharat
FacebookTwitterWhatsAppTelegramEmail


The myth of Muslim vote bank is busted, now the

community should come out of the ghettoism mindset

Firoz Bakht Ahmed
Modi’s 2017 landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, has given a clear message to all the communities and castes besides other such mushrooming shops of the end of divisiveness and the dawn of inclusiveness. It is also the end of all the “…isms”, namely, minorityism, majorityism, secularism, communalism etc.
A very interesting feature was with the highly discussed Muslim vote bank that was predicted to vote for Akhilesh, to ward off BJP, voted for all the parties including the BJP. A team of Friends for Education, the NGO busy in the uplift of the Urdu medium schools and madrasas, discovered that in 42 of the 105 Muslim dominated constituencies with 20 per cent or more Muslim population, 10 to 20 per cent votes had been polled to Modi, mostly by the women and youth. It is certainly a strange but pleasant surprise.
Muslims also voted for Modi as they felt ditched by Akhilesh Yadav who made 14 promises in 2012 after coming to power of which none were fulfilled. An effort by BSP supremo Mayawati to file almost 100 Muslim candidates and an open appeal to the community for alliance with the SCs further gave them the option.  It’s not only Akhilesh or Mayawati who claimed to espouse the cause of Muslims but the community leadership that has lost its voice and utility. Most of the Muslim leaders like Asaduddin Owaisi and Azam Khan, are brokers who play the politics of vote banks to acquire the State patronage for themselves and their coteries. Their obscurantism is leading the community backwards—to the dark ages.  
Thus, issues such as the Vande Mataram, Bharat Mata ki Jai, reservations, the minority character of the Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia etc have become the rallying cry of Muslims, with no bearing on the real problems of the Muslims.
Because of their leaders and the petty politicians who represent them, Indian Muslims today live  in a system of unofficial apartheid. This ghetto existence has allowed the rise of a class of political middlemen who serve as interlocutors between the Muslim masses and the rest of Indian society. The whole strategy is to vote for any candidate who can defeat the BJP.  An efficacious outcome of this so-called the 2019 semi final is that the myth of Muslims voting enbloc has fallen apart. Truth is that Muslims vote in a very secular manner like any other voter driven mostly by local considerations. On the other hand, the fact also is that the the hollow anti-BJP harangue makes all the non-Muslim voters wary and united as happened in UP.
Nevertheless, Muslims have this time come out of the clutches of the ghetto mindset and strategy of imprudently voting against the BJP candidates. In politics, nobody is untouchable. What is inexplicable is the fact that Muslims have been voting for the Congress and Samajwadi Party as if it has been ordained by Allah or asked in the Hadith and the holy Quran!
It is high time that Muslims incorporate the changing paradigm of Indian political system that has come out of the clutches of the mentality of making India a divided house. They must respond to Modi’s call of progress for one and all.
Modi is a man of commitment as he helps without any appeasement. In Gujarat, he helped the kite industry by giving 500 million rupees. Most Muslims benefited as they are the ones in this trade. In the same way, when “Ujjwala” gas cylinders were given to the poor families, it was the Muslim women who were benefited in large numbers. While opening the Jan-Dhan accounts also Muslims were natural beneficiaries.  
While speaking on his victory gathering at the Delhi BJP office, Prime Minister gave a clear message that after this massive mandate, he would embrace all the voters irrespective of the fact whether they have voted for the BJP or not.
As it is time for the BJP and Modi to prove that this so-called secularists’ regiment was befooling and befuddling the Muslims for their own stake, Muslim community also needs to respond to this positive message without the mindset of ghettoism.
(The writer is a grandnephew of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and a social commentator and can be contacted at firozbakhtahmed08@gmail.com)

ShareTweetSendShareSend
Subscribe Organiser YouTube Channel
Previous News

Goa/Cover Story:Deft Moves Outdo Congress

Next News

Opinion/Uttar Pradesh : Modi refedineselectoral idiom

Related News

Tamil Nadu: Madras HC stays 10 new laws on Vice-Chancellor appointment

From diplomacy to devotion: All-party team briefed on Operation Sindoor, visits BAPS Temple in Abu Dhabi

S Gurumurthy, addressing a selected gathering at Raj Bhavan, Kerala on the topic “Operation Sindoor: Paradigm Shift from Candle Light to BrahMos”

Pakistan is terroristan, and “hate Bharat” is its motto, says S. Gurumurthy

National Herald Case: ED names Telangana CM Revanth Reddy in chargesheet, but not as accused

The Expansion of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor into Afghanistan: Implications for India

Indian Armed forces wrote final manifesto of Maoist Basavaraju; Vinod Kumar Jha of ABVP gets justice

Load More

Comments

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Organiser. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.

Latest News

Tamil Nadu: Madras HC stays 10 new laws on Vice-Chancellor appointment

From diplomacy to devotion: All-party team briefed on Operation Sindoor, visits BAPS Temple in Abu Dhabi

S Gurumurthy, addressing a selected gathering at Raj Bhavan, Kerala on the topic “Operation Sindoor: Paradigm Shift from Candle Light to BrahMos”

Pakistan is terroristan, and “hate Bharat” is its motto, says S. Gurumurthy

National Herald Case: ED names Telangana CM Revanth Reddy in chargesheet, but not as accused

The Expansion of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor into Afghanistan: Implications for India

Indian Armed forces wrote final manifesto of Maoist Basavaraju; Vinod Kumar Jha of ABVP gets justice

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar (File Photo)

Cessation of firing and military action negotiated directly between India, Pakistan: EAM Jaishankar

India-Pakistan Relations in 2025: Terrorism, military strategy and diplomatic realignment

Bullets in the Jungle, Tears in the City: The urban naxal response after Maoist encounter

Union Home Minister Amit Shah

PM Modi’s strong political will, accurate intel info, Armed forces lethality: Amit Shah hails Operation Sindoor

  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Cookie Policy
  • Refund and Cancellation
  • Delivery and Shipping

© Bharat Prakashan (Delhi) Limited.
Tech-enabled by Ananthapuri Technologies

  • Home
  • Search Organiser
  • Bharat
    • Assam
    • Bihar
    • Chhattisgarh
    • Jharkhand
    • Maharashtra
    • View All States
  • World
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • North America
    • South America
    • Europe
    • Australia
    • Global Commons
  • Editorial
  • Operation Sindoor
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Defence
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Business
  • RSS in News
  • Entertainment
  • More ..
    • Sci & Tech
    • Vocal4Local
    • Special Report
    • Education
    • Employment
    • Books
    • Interviews
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Politics
    • Law
    • Economy
    • Obituary
    • Podcast
  • Subscribe Magazine
  • Read Ecopy
  • Advertise
  • Circulation
  • Careers
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Policies & Terms
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Refund and Cancellation
    • Terms of Use

© Bharat Prakashan (Delhi) Limited.
Tech-enabled by Ananthapuri Technologies