Amit Shah / Lakshadweep : Acche Din on the Island

Amit Shah receives a warm welcome to Lakshdweep, constituted by a group of Islands, which does have hundred per cent Muslim population

T Satisan from Kochi
BJP president Amit Shah’s visit to Lakshadweep in May was historic by all means. One of the most significant reasons is that the whole group of Islands which constitute the Lakshadweep does have hundred percent Muslim population. Total surface area of the islands is 32 square kilometres. The total population is less than 70,000. The islands are 200 to 400 km off Kerala. All islands are not inhabited and only a few are open to visitors; the visit is restricted to permit holders. Despite the propaganda of anti-BJP forces that BJP is an only Hindu party and its ideology and activities are anti-minorities and fascist, the people of Lakshadweep accorded a warm and enthusiastic welcome to the BJP chief on his first ever visit to the islands.

His visit to the islands shall be viewed as a part of the  campaign of both PM Modi and the party chief for the corruption-free and Congress-free Bharat. Both do not spare a single corner of the country in this expedition. The very purpose of Shah’s visit to the islands was to bring Deendayal’s message of ‘The welfare of the last man in the queue’ to the people there.
Amit Shah arrived in Kavaratti, the capital of the union territory and an attractive tourist spot, on May 16. He reached the island by helicopter. People of the island received him with Lakshadweep’s traditional art forms like Bandya, Oppana and Kolkkali. They were organised by the Lakshadweep Kala Academy. Men, women and children lined up on either side of the roads to greet Shah. They carried national flags and BJP flags. They kept on shouting slogans ‘Bharat Mata ki jai and BJP ki jai’. He was taken to the guest house through the main avenue in a motorcade of more than hundred vehicles. Roads were beautified with BJP flags and other decorations.
After the reception, the party president started meeting the Lakshadweep state leaders and district office bearers, followed by visit to the party offices, meeting with the prominent personalities, the inauguration of the Deendayal centenary celebrations, etc. National joint organising secretary B L Santosh, senior national functionary Aravind Menon, Mahesh Giri (MP and BJP Lakshadweep in-charge), Lakshadweep state president C Abdul Khader Haji, former president Dr Muthukkoya, state general secretary Sayed Mohammed Koya and Vimal Raveendran (BJP vistarak to the islands) accompanied the party president. It was an unprecedented  reception. Decorations were done for a week according to the islanders’ faith and social system.
That evening, BJP president addressed a mammoth rally on the Kavaratti Panchayat Beach. It was again a remarkable meeting. Thousands thronged the beach. For more than a week Modi, Shah and the local politics were the topics the islanders discussed. Mohammed Faisal, the Member of Parliament from Lakshadweep joined the audience to hear Amit Shah. Earlier he discussed Lakshadweep’s development plans with BJP president. He belongs to NCP.
The next day, Amit Shah visited three houses in Kavaratti. He had breakfast at the house of Piriyathimad Abdul Khader, an ordinary party worker. Then he moved to the house of Abdul Rehman, a fisherman. So many people congregated there to see him. He asked them about the matters concerning sea and land, their fishing work, etc. Shah’s next visit was to the house of the islands’ folk singer Kadapurathu Poovu. Poovu is now 80 and bed ridden. She was a popular folk singer of yesteryears. She had sung in Delhi before Smt. Indira Gandhi. It is to be noted that even though Congress president Sonia Gandhi had visited Lakshadweep, she did not visit any such house.
Shah’s next programme was in Bangaram island. There he sought information regarding the feasibility of tourist development and the  problems the industry faces there. From Bangaram Shah moved to Androth island. It is the island with the highest population in Lakshadweep. There he visited the house of Mohammed Faizal. Hundreds of people, including women and children participated in various programmes in the island. Amit Shah addressed booth committees and public meeting there. Lakshadweep MP’s father came to see Shah.
Amit Shah came to Lakshadweep with specific political plans. He shared them with his party workers there. He has asked the party workers to recruit 5,000 members before November, 2017.  He has asked the party unit to contest all seats in the local self-governing body elections due in November – December, 2017 and win the maximum number of seats. Shah told them about the Prime Minister’s visit before the end of the year. He asked the workers to prepare the development plan for the state and submit before Modiji during his visit. He has promised to solve 75 per cent of the issues they face before 2019. Eighty of the 120 central government schemes can be implemented in Lakshadweep. Infrastructure development, employment, business initiatives, jobs for the youth, better health facilities, education facilities, etc. were the issues the party workers and the people brought before him. He assured solutions for all the issues.
Now, the political equation in Lakshadweep changes. So far the only non–Congress MP from Lakshadweep was the JDU (George Fernandez) nominee during AB Vajpayee”s regime. There started the deterioration of Congress in the islands. But, BJP was not powerful and all the voters were Muslims. Therefore, NCP could capitalise on the fall of Congress hence its candidate won the election in 2014. Now, the talk of the island is on NCP’s MP going BJP way. But, Amit Shah says that the growth of BJP is the immediate goal. Alliance and  understanding can be discussed when the elections come. However, NCP had to organise public meetings to explain their stand.
Advocate PS  Sreedharan Pillai, former national executive member as well as former Kerala state president of BJP, reminisces the days of 1999 when the party had units in all states and union territories except Lakshadweep. The then party president Kushabhau Thakre and general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu assigned him to launch party in the islands. He visited there a couple of times and the third time Sri Venkaiah Naidu himself inaugurated the party unit there. In the next parliament election, NDA’s JDU (George Fernandez) candidate P Pookunji Koya won the Lakshadweep seat bagging 49.02 per cent votes. He defeated veteran Congress leader and former Lok Sabha deputy speaker and former minister of state for Home P M Sayed who was winning the seat 1967 onwards sans a single break.
In the meantime, all non-BJP political dispensations in Lakshadweep are shaken by the vibrant visit of the BJP president. Congress men have started to move to BJP. Existing panchayat members seek BJP membership. Once the membership campaign starts massive exodus is expected from all corners to BJP. It looks like Lakshadweep with 100 per cent Muslim population is all set to embrace BJP.