Apparently indicating that its will seek to woo the Muslims and focus on the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha, the BJP has, in its new team announced by party's national president J P Nadda, included a prominent Muslim face and several leaders from India's biggest state.
Former Vice-Chancellor of the prestigious Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Tariq Mansoor has been included in the team as the national vice-president. Mansoor's inclusion assumes significance in view of BJP's concerted efforts to woo the Muslim community, especially the 'Pasmanda Muslims' (backward, dalit Muslims), through a series of initiatives, including a 'Pasmanda Sneh (affection) Yatra' in the Muslim dominated regions in the state.
Mansoor, an acclaimed academician, could also prove handy for the saffron party for ''allaying the apprehensions'' in the Muslim community over the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
Mansoor had been nominated to the UP legislative council by the Yogi Adityanath government after resigning from the post of Vice-Chancellor. ''Mansoor's inclusion as national vice-president is aimed at assuring the Muslim community that the BJP believes in inclusive politics and is not against the minority community,'' said Lucknow based media analyst J P Shukla.
''Obviously UP is crucial to the BJP's plan to return to power in 2024 and as the party has declared that it seeks to win all the 80 LS seats in the state, the support of the Muslims becomes very important,'' Shukla told DH here.
Besides Mansoor, several leaders, hailing from different castes, have also been included in the team indicating that the party has sought to get the caste equations right ahead of the 2024 general elections.
BJP MP Rekha Verma, a 'kurmi', has been appointed as one of the national vice-presidents apparently keeping in mind the electoral clout of the community in the state. Another prominent 'Brahmin' face of the party in the state and Rajya Sabha member Luxmikant Bajpai has also been made national vice-president. Other prominent names from the state who have made it into the national team included Surendra Nagar, Radha Mohan Agarwal and Arun Singh.