CM’s latest supporter a cleric from Anand

is all praise for Modi. “Muslims in Gujarat are progressing like other communities under the BJP government,” he says.

Son of Maulana Abdul Ahad Tarapuri,founder and vice-president of the Delhi-based All India Milli Council,Luqman is all set to fly to the US to attend a three-day global Gujarati conference from August 29 to 31. He will speak on communal harmony in the state and the role of Muslims in an industrially advanced Gujarat.

The conference being organised by Friends of Gujarat,considered close to the BJP,will be addressed by Modi through video-conferencing.

Luqman,president of the Gujarat chapter of All India Imams Organisation,is the lone Muslims to address the conference,reportedly aimed at promoting CM among overseas Indians. Luqman also runs a madrasa at his native place,Tarapur,60 km from Anand and edits Gujarati monthly ‘Public’.

“I am not in BJP officially but I certainly favour the party for the development work in the state. I am in touch with Modi,” he says. “Whenever I went to any minister or BJP politician of my area for any work,they ensured that the work was done immediately. This is in contrast to two Congress ministers from Anand and Nadiad — Bharatsinh Solanki and Dinsha Patel — who dislike Muslims and misbehave when them,” he adds.

On Modi refusing to wear a skull cap at a function in 2011,he alleges that Solanki on many occasions sent back Muslims from his functions,saying it |would adversely affect his popularity among the majority community.

He admits that Muslims suffered during the 2002 riots,but also defends Modi by saying that “the state government took action to check the riots but unfortunately,it could not succeed”. “Some people are taking the help of Gujarati Muslims to target Modi. This is unfair…I recently visited riot-hit Muslims in Kokrajhar,Assam. They are living in appalling conditions. The Congress government there is not doing anything. The conditions of Muslims in Gujarat is much much better,” he says.

While Luqman’s father could not be contacted,his brother Mufti Rizwan Tarapuri,who runs a madrasa at Sarkhej here,says that their father is not aware of developments pertaining to Luqman. He describes Luqman’s hobnobbing with Modi as a “lack of political vision”. “Many political

stalwarts have become victim to Modi’s well-planned propaganda of development and Luqman is a novice

in politics. As far as my

position is concerned,there can be no truck with Modi till he tenders an apology for what happened in 2002,’’ Rizwan says.