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Kannur: Muslim, Christian candidates contesting in BJP ticket and Hindu candidates contesting for parties like SDPI and IUML has led to interesting mimes and heated debates in social media ahead of local body elections.
Of the latest data, there are several members from the Muslim and Christian community contesting for BJP in districts like Malappuram, Kottayam, Idukki and Pathanamthitta. The never-like-before scenario also reflects the changing voting preferences of people from these districts where the population of Christians and Muslims are proportionally high.
Meanwhile, social media users aligned to the Congress and Muslim league has slammed the BJP’s outreach to the Muslim community in Kerala alleging that the move is dubious and is intended to deviate the saffron party’s atrocities against the community in other parts of the country mainly ruled by the BJP.
“The BJP in Kerala is trying to conceal their agenda and is trying to make inroads into Muslim community areas which will not work in a state like Kerala where people from the community already knew their politics”, said Shanawas a Facebook user.
Another IUML supporter Shahin says, "BJP cannot replicate its political heft in Bihar. These candidates wont make any impact", he said.
However, BJP affiliated members and groups slammed the comments made by their political opponents.
Across Kerala, the BJP claims it has fielded more Christian candidates than any other party that traditionally banked on Christian votes. "On average, 25-30 per cent of candidates in a district across various local bodies are Christians. The Catholics have not been affected by what happens in North India, where the Congress and the CPM spin tales to suit their interests," said BJP state vice president Shaun George.
The BJP however took calculated steps in fielding new faces with non-Hindu identities in places like Kannur and Guruvayur. Raziya KP, who calls herself an active BJP worker, will debut in the polls in Kannur corporation in ward 55. "I have been inspired by Modiji. This is my first test in elections," she said. In Guruvayur municipality, where the BJP currently has two councillors, the party has deputed Shaji Kurian from ward 14.
Ummer Farook, a 45-year-old man from Panoor in Kannur, made two decisions this month - to leave the Muslim League and join the BJP. Personally, the move cost him dearly. His wife, Sameera, said she wanted to stay away for a while and moved to her house.
His son doesn't talk to him anymore. His daughter has been kind to him, though. Farook has been a League activist for 30 years. Now, posters show a pleasant-faced Ummer with coiffed hair set against a swirl of saffron and a lotus in the foreground. He is the BJP's official candidate for ward 16, Pullukkara, in Panoor municipality.
Meanwhile, social media handles affiliated to RSS and Sangh Parivar has been sharing the profiles of the Muslim and Christian candidates in social media circles.
However, there is concerns and opposition within the party members and leaders in few wards in Palakkad, Thrissur and Trivandrum over side-lining party workers and giving more prominences to ‘new comers’ and leaders who deflected from other parties who joined the BJP recently.
