The BJP may not have a single Muslim MP but the RSS wants to ensure that at least 30 Muslim faces are present for Narendra Modi’s swearing-in on Monday. It has organised invites for over three dozen Muslims, from across the country. Some of them have already arrived in the Capital. Likewise, passes have been arranged for some guests from the Christian community as well. Girish Juyal, a former pracharak working with the RSS’s Muslim Rashtriya Manch and one of those assigned to look after the Muslim guests, confirmed the invitations. “Our effort is to ensure that a message doesn’t go out that this government has no support among Muslims,” Juyal said. During the campaign, the BJP had distributed skull caps to show Muslim presence at its meetings. Some of them may not be able to come but passes have been arranged for all, said sources. Most of the guests are associated with the Muslim Rashtriya Manch. Some are religious leaders, while a few are ordinary Muslims, sources said. Apart from Juyal, Virag Pachpore, Golok Behari and Mahiradhwaj Singh have been deputed to look after these guests. Of them only Pachpore is a pracharak, others are former RSS pracharaks. The invitees include Faiz Khan (from Raipur), Dr Salim Raj (Raipur), S K Moinuddin (Jabalpur), Tayyab Qureshi (Ghaziabad), Maulana Shamoom Kasmi (Bijnore), Maulana Shoeb Kasmi (Bijnore), Dr Sadakat Ali (Roorkie), Mohd Ashraf Asharfi (Bareilly), Imran Chaudhary (Delhi), Mohammad Afzal (Delhi), Shehzad Ali (Agra), Abbas Ali Vorah (Bangalore), Latif Maqdoom (Pune), Dr Shahid Akhtar (Ranchi), Engineer Ghulam Ali (Srinagar), Abu Baqar Naqvi (Tonk), Reshma Hussain (Jaipur), Ghani Bhai Qureshi (Gujarat), Maulana Zahid and Zahangir Alam, among others.
