This Article is From Apr 16, 2014

We are scared of Modi, but Rajnath is like Vajpayee: top Shia cleric

Influential Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad has backed Rajnath Singh

Lucknow: Days after the BJP criticized Sonia Gandhi's meeting with the Shahi Imam as brazen communalism, the party's president Rajnath Singh has met and appears to have won the backing of an important Shia cleric in Lucknow, from where he is running for Parliament.

Maulana Kalbe Jawad today praised the BJP president by comparing him to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a five-time MP from Lucknow who is still the gold standard for voters here.

"We are scared of Narendra Modi, but Rajnath Singh has the acceptability of Vajpayee," the cleric told NDTV's Barkha Dutt.

Maulana Jawad said no political 'fatwa' or diktat would be issued to Muslim voters, but he would "present his views" before the community.

Besides Maulana Jawad, Rajnath Singh on Tuesday also met other prominent religious leaders like Maulana Kalbe Sadiq and Maulana Khalid Rasheed.

The BJP president said his outreach cannot be compared with Sonia Gandhi's meeting with Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, on April 2. Mrs Gandhi reportedly said in the meeting that the "secular vote should not be divided". Days later, the Shahi Imam came out with his endorsement of the Congress. (Rajnath Singh meets clerics, says 'can't compare with Sonia Gandhi-Shahi Imam meeting')

Rajnath Singh said he was meeting religious leaders of all faiths. "I respect all communities but will never appease anyone. I am not asking clerics for votes on religion. I will never ask for a political fatwa," he told NDTV.

The Congress accused the BJP of double standards. "Muslim clerics have said Rajnath came to meet them and made promises for Muslims. While in our case, the Shahi Imam came to meet the Congress president. That's the basic difference between the two meetings. Isn't this communalism?" questioned the party's Ajay Maken.

Uttar Pradesh, India's most electorally vital state with 80 parliamentary seats, has 18 per cent Muslims, and in its capital Lucknow, Muslims are a fourth of the population. The city has 1.8 lakh Shia Muslims.

The BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is accused by his critics of not stopping the 2002 Gujarat riots on his watch, in which 1,000 were killed, mostly Muslims. A Supreme Court probe found no evidence of his alleged role in the riots, an assessment that was upheld by a local court last year.
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