To prevent ‘political misuse’ of UCC, BJP plans community dialogue with Pasmanda Muslims

As per insiders, it will also be the next step in line with the party’s ongoing attempts to expand its base among Delhi’s second-largest minority community. “Spreading rumours and misinformation around UCC, just like attempts to mislead people on the issue of Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, is a very real possibility; we won’t let that happen,” Rasheed said.

Since Eid last month, Rasheed has been engaging with the capital’s Pasmanda Muslim community — an economically backward sub-group with numbers that contribute significantly to the Muslim population of India — while focussing on the BJP’s achievements during its nine-year-tenure as part of its ongoing ‘Sampark Se Samarthan’ initiative.

Outreach at areas like Trilokpuri and Sangam Vihar among others has, however, so far only focussed on targetting the AAP Delhi government for allegedly not allowing implementation of the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat health scheme and seeking to underline PM Narendra Modi’s role in “ensuring delivery of free ration” to their homes every month. A senior party leader said these were core issues concerning the economic well-being of Pasmanda households.

Underlining the “significant outlook” with which the BJP viewed the community, a senior leader pointed out the PM’s instructions at two national executive meetings in 2022 and 2023 to reach out to marginalised sections within minority communities and his address in Bhopal on June 27 with regard to the Pasm-anda Muslim community per se.

“We are in the process of finalising the modalities around a large community event where the right information about UCC will be given and a dialogue will be held; it will either be held in Delhi or in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh to coincide with the Monsoon Session of Parliament,” Rasheed said.