Undercover campaign

Sheikh had to fight hard to get a Congress nomination. In Shahpur in Ahmedabad, nearly 50 per cent voters are Muslims but the Congress did not field a candidate from the community in 2002. Shiekh contested as an Independent, causing the party8217;s defeat. 8220;This time, we told the Congress that whether Hindu or Muslim, only a local candidate is acceptable,8221; the builder-turned-politician said.

His chances are bright in the constituency that has 41,000 Muslims out of 87,000 voters. The Muslim votes count and Sheikh is on the move. In the forenoon, he meets people at homes and in the evenings he addresses small mohalla meetings. He is raising only bread and butter issues with voters8212;about the slums that have been demolished, and 8220;hollowness of the BJP8217;s development claims.8221;

But it is a different story in the adjoining Sarkhej constituency. Juhapura, a Muslim ghetto of more than two lakh people and called 8216;Pakistan8217; by many in the city, is part of the constituency where Modi confidant Amit Shah is the BJP candidate. At one of the six elections offices that the Congress has set up in Juhapura, workers are busy8212;playing cards. They do not really count. Even if all the Muslims come out and vote together, it only accounts for one fifth of the voter strength of nine lakh. In 2002, Shah won by a margin of more than two lakh. In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, L.K. Advani8217;s victory margin in Sarkhej ran into several lakhs.

Sheikh Salim, the only person interested in talking, said, 8220;Everyone is voting for the Congress anyway8230;But we have to get them all to the booth,8221; he said, admitting that it is not easy.

In 2002, only 53 per cent Muslims voted compared to the 60 per cent overall. Muslim organisations and community leaders held a meeting last month to mobilise voters, but none associated with the initiative wants to publicise it. 8220;We have identified 85 seats where Muslim voters number 15 per cent or more. Of that, we have excluded 16 seats where the Congress has fielded dubious candidates. In the other 69, we are trying to achieve above 80 per cent voting among the community. Despite its marginal presence, the community can indeed influence the outcome and we are trying to tell people that,8221; a leader of the initiative said.

It is not easy to enthuse the Muslim voters. Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may have confronted Modi8217;s Hindutva plank, but the tone and tenor of the Congress campaign is far from it. Staying far away from questions of rule of law, the Congress campaign questions Modi8217;s claims of being a Hindu hero and vikas purush. For instance, one party advertisement says more than 500 temples have been broken into by thieves during Modi8217;s regime and asks if Hindus are safe under him. 8220;The Congress is merely responding to the public mood which will react strongly against anything perceived to be pro-Muslim. They cannot question Modi on the rule of law,8221; says Mona Mehta, a PhD candidate at Chicago University, currently doing her field study on Gujarat politics.

Much like the way the community is mobilising itself, the Congress is stealthily reaching out to them8212;as if it were all underground politics. Key strategist Ahmad Patel has been on an extensive tour of the state. At least the vocal sections of Muslims appreciate the compulsions of the Congress. 8220;The fact is that the Congress cannot transfer non-Muslim votes to a Muslim candidate. They also have to avoid a communal polarisation. That is a dilemma Muslims will have to understand,8221; says Shakeel Ahmad.