Cong plays minority game in Assam

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posted on 18 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi fears that Congress' traditional votebank, the Muslims, may not vote for his party in the Assembly Polls.

New Delhi: It's the fear of losing the Muslim vote bank, but the Congress calls it a commitment to secularism. The party has alloted almost 40 per cent of the seats to Muslim candidates in the upcoming elections in Assam.

A worried Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi spoke to Sonia Gandhi last week. He fears that Congress' traditional votebank, the Muslims, may not vote for his party and he may not be able to retain his seat in the upcoming Assembly Polls.

This had led the Congress to give more tickets to Muslims than it has done in any other state outside of Jammu and Kashmir.

Of the Congress list of 120 names, as many as 31 are Muslims, which is a 38 per cent of the total seats. Last time, in 2001, the party gave 30 per cent of seats to Muslims.

While the Congress terms it as a development, but it is obviously minority vote bank politics what they are looking at.

Earlier, the Union Cabinet, had approved the Foreign Amendment Act, wherein the onus of proving the nationality of immigrants, largely Bangladeshis lies on the complainant.

This again is seen as an attempt to win the Muslim vote. The party, however, claims that it's not religion, but "winnability" of candidates which is the factor they are looking at.

Union Tourism and Culture Minister and Congress General Secretary, Ambika Soni, says, "We have to take everyone along but the party is commiitted to secular polity."

But the Assam list could be a pointer to the future. Minority Affairs Minister AR Antulay indicates that the party is keen to show the minorities that it wants them to be part of the power cake.

This is one reason why even in Kerala and West Bengal, the Congress could field more Muslims that in previous elections.

But will it help? For example, in Uttar Pradesh, a Muslim Pradesh Congress Commitee Chief has not necessarily brought the Muslims back to the Congress fold.

So, is the Congress offering the minority mere assurances or real development opportunities? For now, all it can see is the ballot.

(Pallavi Ghosh and Deborshi Chaki)