Rajnath Singh was for some time the BJP Chief Minister of the state and he interacted with the Muslim organizations in his own sober manner. Jawaad recalled this in his meeting with Rajnath and mentioned publicly that the BJP would have got the support of the Muslims if the Party had fielded a person like Rajnath as the PM candidate as against the present candidate Narendra Modi whom the Muslims think as a threat to them.

For the BJP workers in UP who have been fighting hard to improve their tally and publicizing the Narendra Modi wave, even among the Muslims in UP, it has been a big setback as the campaigners for Modi have been very active in the Muslim areas and they have been propagating that Modi should be given a chance and he will surely take care of the interests of the Muslims. Putting Rajnath against Modi by a senior Muslim leader, has caused big confusion in the BJP ranks.

The central BJP leadership is giving maximum stress on the UP results since the state has the largest number of Lok Sabha seats-80. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP got only ten seats and this time, the BJP high command has fielded Modi from Varanasi to create an impact on the UP voters including the Muslims. The BJP is estimating that the party has to get 40 seats minimum from UP to facilitate the transition to Delhi. It is proved that the Party which fares well in Lok Sabha elections in UP, is placed in an advantageous position to grab power at the centre.

The cleric Jawaad further said that Rajnath Singh has the legacy of the former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee which Modi lacks. This observation is not going well with the BJP cadres in the midst of the campaign. In fact BJP’s UP in charge Amit Shah who is a confident of Modi has alleged that Rajnath should have been careful in choosing people whom he will be meeting and the meeting has damaged the cause of BJP campaign in Uttar Pradesh.

What is worrying for BJP leadership in UP is that the young Muslims who were fence sitters and not so much against Modi, are taking positions now and while campaigning for Rajnath, some Muslim youth are also campaigning against Modi..They are saying that they prefer Rajnath and not Modi. This is sure to damage Modi’s campaign in Varanasi.

Political observers see also a deliberate ply by Rajnath in this meeting with Jawaad. He knew that the cleric would come out against Modi in his presence and praise him for his tenure as UP Chief Minister but still the BJP President met him and gave him the scope to come out publicly. The observers point out that Rajnath will jump in the fray as an acceptable PM candidate in the post election period if NDA far short of majority and Modi fails to get supporting allies from outside. Rajnath is acceptable to RSS, he is much younger in age compared to L K Advani and he is a sober politician who keeps contacts with all political leaders. The shrewd Rajnath is also positioning himself if Modi fails. (IPA)