The BJP fielded 395 Muslim candidates in the just-concluded local body elections in Uttar Pradesh and more than 40 of them won, including five on posts of nagar panchayat chairperson, according to party leaders.

Muslims have expressed their faith in the Centre and the state government, they said.

Dismissing the claim, the Samajwadi Party said the BJP should tell how many Muslim candidates it would field in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Kunwar Basit Ali, head of Uttar Pradesh BJP’s minority cell, told PTI on Sunday that the party fielded a total of 395 Muslim candidates in the urban local body elections and 40-45 of them emerged victorious.

He said, “Out of 32 Muslim candidates fielded by the party on the posts of nagar panchayat chairman, five emerged victorious — Wali Mohammad (from Gopamau in Hardoi district), Phool Bano (from Chilkana in Saharanpur), Kausar Abbas (from Sirsi in Sambhal), Nadeemul Hasan (from Dhaura Tanda in Bareilly) and Farkhanda Jabi (from Bhojpur in Moradabad).” Some of the other winners are Shahzad, nagar panchayat member from (ward number 5) Siwalkhas in Meerut who won by a wafer-thin margin of 15 votes; Rukhsana, nagar panchayat member from (ward number 3) Siwalkhas in Meerut who won by 316 votes; and Hakikun Nisha, who won the corporator’s post in the Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation.

Javed Malik, chairman of the BJP’s minority cell in west Uttar Pradesh, told PTI that the strategy of Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress to intimidate Muslims during the elections failed.

“Muslims have expressed their faith in the Centre and the state government,” he said.

Expressing happiness over the performance of BJP candidates, Minister of State for Muslim Waqf, Haj and Minority Welfare Danish Azad Ansari told PTI, “The results have been very good. In places where we did not win, including Muslim areas, we secured the second spot, while the SP went down to the third.” “This proves that Muslims are gradually shifting towards the BJP and they have no illusion regarding the SP,” he said.

In the Rampur Nagar Palika Parishad, AAP’s Sana Khanam won with 43,121 votes, BJP’s Masarat Mujeeb was the runner-up with 32,173 votes and SP’s Fatma Jabi came third with 16,273 votes, he said, elucidating his point.

The BJP ensured educational, social and political development of the minorities, due to which they are experiencing economic growth. The party also ensured their social and political growth, Ansari said.

SP spokesperson Abbas Haidar, however, rejected the BJP’s claims.

“In the urban local body elections, the administration had created an atmosphere of fear. Despite this, the performance of the SP has been good in nagar palika parishads and nagar panchayats,” he said.

“And if the BJP is talking about Muslims now, then it will have to tell how many Muslims it would give tickets to in the Lok Sabha elections,” he said.

Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi termed the BJP “selfish” and said Muslims are not going to be influenced by the statements of its leaders.

“They talk about Muslims while seeking their votes but after the election results are out, they start indulging in divisive politics. Muslim voters are not going to be influenced by such statements made by BJP leaders,” he said.

The BJP swept the mayoral elections in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, winning all 17 mayoral seats.

The urban local body polls were held in two phases — on May 4 and May 11 — to elect 17 mayors and 1,401 corporators. Nineteen corporators were elected unopposed, according to the State Election Commission.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)