Varsha chosen to preempt BJP’S Hindutva card
MUMBAI: The Congress chose to nominate city chief Varsha Gaikwad as its Lok Sabha poll candidate from Mumbai North Central over Arif Naseem Khan to preempt chances of the BJP playing the Hindutva card, said well-placed sources in the party. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s statement on Gaikwad being a consensus candidate among the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies has bolstered this perception, as have comments by Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar following the declaration of senior public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam as the BJP candidate from the constituency.
“Nikam is a real warrior who fought to keep Mumbai safe from terrorists,” Shelar said in a post on social media platform X on Saturday after the announcement of Nikam’s candidature. He credited the lawyer for exposing Pakistan’s role in the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai and ensuring that terrorists like Ajmal Kasab and Yakub Memon got the death penalty.
“Candidature to him an honour to Mumbaiites,” he stated on X.
Also on Saturday, Kharge told reporters in Guwahati that the decision to field Gaikwad from Mumbai North Central instead of Khan was taken by the three alliance partners in MVA collectively.
“I know he (Khan) is a good leader and fighter and he will be compensated in due course,” said Kharge.
As reported by Hindustan Times, Khan had on Friday resigned as star campaigner and member of Congress’ campaign committee for the Lok Sabha polls in protest against the party’s decision of not nominating any Muslim candidate from the state.
“Though the party had decided to field me from Mumbai North Central, which has 6.5 lakh minorities and 2 lakh Hindi speakers, my name was not announced as a candidate,” he had said after tendering his resignation.
Kharge’s statement on Saturday led to speculation that the Shiv Sena (UBT) was against Khan’s candidacy. But the state Congress leadership ruled out such possibility, saying Shiv Sena (UBT) and its chief Uddhav Thackeray were keen on Khan’s candidature as they felt it would help their other candidates in Mumbai.
“In fact, the central leadership was wary about opponents playing the Hindutva card had
Khan or any other Muslim been chosen as a candidate from North Central,” said a top Congress leader in the state.
The BJP had squarely criticised Congress leaders for opposing the execution of 1992 Mumbai bomb blasts accused Yakub Memon in 2015; they had also accused the earlier MVA government of protecting his grave in South Mumbai and held several rallies in the constituency against alleged instances of love jihad, he explained.
“As per our information, these issues would have been raked up by the BJP had we fielded a Muslim, which would have dented our votes,” the senior leader further said.
A BJP leader admitted that the party was waiting to play the Hindutva card once the Congress nominated a Muslim from the seat. “It would have been easier for Nikam had Khan been his opponent. The issues would have reflected across the city,” he said.
Maharashtra BJP vice president Madhav Bhandari too said had Khan been in the fray, the Hindutva agenda would have been raked up vehemently.
“On one side, there is Nikam, who has fought cases against terrorists like Kasab and Memon. Had a Muslim candidate been there opposite him, it would have given a boost to the nationalist agenda,” said Bhandari.
“It is the BJP’S success that the Congress, which had been preoccupied with Muslim appeasement all these years, has started thinking on these lines,” he said.
Sarfraj Arzoo, editor of the Urdu daily Hindustan, too said the BJP would have “definitely tried to play” the Hindutva card had Khan been nominated from Mumbai North Central.
“But it’s an overspent card which does not work anymore,” said the editor. “I do not think the Congress denied Khan a ticket because of that, although it did send a wrong message to Muslims by bypassing him.”