With Eyes On 2024 Lok Sabha Polls, BJP's Minority Cell Launches Muslim Outreach Campaign

'Sufi Samvad', the campaign launched in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections focuses on the Muslim-dominated districts in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala and Telangana.

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janta Party's Minority Morcha on Wednesday launched a year-long outreach program for Muslims called Sufi Samvad. The campaign launched in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections specially focuses on the Muslim-dominated districts in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala and Telangana. According to the party's minority morcha head Jamal Siddiqui, a team of 150 people associated with Sufism has been formed for the campaign, which will culminate in a large meeting addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The initiative comes months after Prime Minister Modi suggested that party workers reach out to Sufis, Bohras, and Pasmandas in the country's Muslim community.

"On the directions of Prime Minister Modi to reach out to the Sufis who are advocates of peace and harmony, this initiative has been taken," Siddiqui told reporters here.

सूफ़ी संवाद महाअभियान #muslimswithbjp pic.twitter.com/PhQCSywjm0 — BJP MINORITY MORCHA (@BJPMinMorcha) March 15, 2023

At the launch of the campaign on Wednesday, people working in Sufi dargahs across 30 states and Union territories gathered at the BJP headquarters to firm up various events under the campaign.

Media coordinator for the programme Yasir Jilani said the fact is that the Modi government has worked for all, irrespective of caste, creed and religion, and the objective is to reach out to the Muslim community and spread this message.

Majority of the events under this initiative will be held in the Muslim-majority districts and where there is a substantial population of Muslims.

A special focus will be laid on Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala, Bihar and Telangana, which cumulatively send 199 members to Lok Sabha.

Earlier in March, the BJP made history by retaking control of Tripura, Nagaland, and Meghalaya, three northeastern states that recently had assembly elections, and keeping them under its control with the aid of its allies. The saffron party, with the assistance of its coalition partner NDPP won the elections in Nagaland and Tripura. The National People's Party, led by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, emerged as the single-largest party with 26 seats, and is now a participant in the race to become the next administration in Meghalaya. While they were allies in the previous administration, the BJP and NPP had contested polls spearately.

Six States To Go For Assembly Elections Later In 2023

From the northeast, central to south India, this year will witness Assembly polls in as many as nine states. After the three NE states, high-stake electoral battles are yet to take place in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. These assembly elections will undoubtedly set the tone for the much-awaited 2024 Lok Sabha battle - the mother of all elections. 

While 2022 was a year in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continued its political dominance (except for a few hiccups in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh), its performance this year will determine if it will register its third successive electoral victory in the 2024 General Elections.