For power,Mulayam rains sops

Hit by Congress party’s decision to provide reservation to minority communities within the OBC quota,the SP chief has renewed his efforts to woo the Muslim voters,which once constituted the party’s formidable Muslim-Yadav votebank.

In a letter to Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid Delhi,Syed Ahmed Bukhari,Yadav promised setting up a commission to “survey the backwardness of Muslims” in Uttar Pradesh and give “exemplary reservation” to the community if his party formed the next government in the state.

Yadav was replying to a letter sent by Bukhari last month,urging the former chief minister to include a list of proposals for uplifting the Muslims in the party manifesto.

Bukhari,in his letter,said that there was discontentment amongst Muslims against SP in the last Lok Sabha elections,and that the party will have to take some strong steps in order to win back the support of Muslims.

The main suggestions in Bukhari’s letter were implementation of the recommendations of the Rangnath Mishra Commission and Sachar Committee,declaration of all Muslims as backward,a survey across the state to assess the backwardness of Muslims,and extending all the benefits to Muslims that other backward classes enjoy.

Bukhari also demanded the immediate release and compensation for Muslims who have been “jailed under the pretext of action against terrorism.” He also urged Yadav to make special provisions for employment of Muslims in security forces of the state,setting up of educational institutes in Muslim areas,budgetary provision for imparting technical education in madarsas as well as establishing government-run Urdu medium primary,middle and high schools on the lines of Maharashtra.

Agreeing that the political,social,educational as well as economic condition of Muslims is “pitiable” in the country,Yadav reiterated that he is in favour of full implementation of the Rangnath Mishra Commission and Sachar Committee’s recommendations.

Accusing the UPA government of cheating Muslims by promising 4.5 per cent reservation for minorities,and not for Muslims alone,Yadav said that he is in favour of reservation for Muslims in education and employment.

He said that soon after forming the government in Uttar Pradesh,his party members will discuss the issue with Muslims,intellectuals as well as legal experts and will give reservation on the lines of reservation given to Muslims in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile,in Sitapur,senior SP Azam Khan trained the guns on Congress,asking it to clarify its stand on the Batla House encounter probe. Recounting Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh’s remark that the encounter was fake,he asked the UPA government to decide who was correct — Singh or Union Home Minister P Chidambaram,who had claimed that the encounter was genuine.

At the rally,SP chief also attacked the BSP chief Mayawati. He said his party would initiate investigation into “squandering of public money by Chief Minister Mayawati on construction of memorials and her statues”.

He alleged that the Mayawati government had wasted more than Rs 40,000 crore on making statues and memorial and grabbed more than 5,000 acre land for the purpose.