Uttar Pradesh elections 2017: BSP present young face to woo Muslim votes, BSP, Mayawati,Up assembly polls 2017
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- Category: UP Political News
- Last Updated: Wednesday, 12 October 2016 12:16
Uttar Pradesh elections 2017: BSP present young face to woo Muslim votes, BSP, Mayawati,Up assembly polls 2017
Focusing more keenly than ever on the Muslim vote in Uttar Pradesh, the BSP has identified its target group – the Muslim youth – and identified the faces to win them over.
Mayawati has asked the party’s Muslim face, general secretary Naseemuddin Siddiqui, to take charge of party affairs in western UP with its large Muslim population. For work on the ground, she has also appointed Nassemuddin’s son Afzal Siddiqui, 27, as “Muslim bhaichara-in-charge” of six key divisions – Meerut, Saharanpur, Bareilly, Moradabad, Aligarh and Agra.
Afzal heads a team of 12 divisional conveners, all Muslims and most aged below 40. They are interacting on the ground with voters in these assembly seats. Elsewhere, there are conveners for SC seats too, and most members of that bhaichara team too are youngsters.
“Younger Muslims are educated and understand the situation better. They understand what the BSP is offering them,” said former BSP MP Salim Ansari. “Most Muslims are upset with the SP. They also know their family dispute will damage them.”
When Afzal was named Fatehpur candidate, he was yet to reach the age cutoff for the election. Then pursuing his LLB from Amity University in Noida, he turned 25 days before voting took place.
Afzal, who went to school in Dehradun, is married to Sanaa with a son, Umair. They live in Delhi and he also manages the family’s businesses in west UP, according to a source close to the family.