NEW DELHI: The attempt to project a few Muslim residents of Shaheen Bagh, who joined the BJP recently, as anti-CAA protesters seems to have not gone down well with many party leaders. Senior BJP leaders, including imcumbent and former office bearers are reportedly upset with the ‘misadventure’ by the Delhi state unit of the party.
Shaheen Bagh, which has a high concentration of minority community, was the centre of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests.
Conveying strong disapproval of the ‘action’, a group of Delhi BJP leaders suggested that the entire episode was planned just to include a ‘junior level’ worker in the new team of office bearers, which is to be announced soon.
According to then, a senior Muslim party leader is also not happy with the development, which has caused embarrassment to the party.
“Unnecessarily, we gave an opportunity to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to make it (joining) an issue. The controversy created over the incident is bigger than the stature of people or activists inducted into the party. They are not well-known faces in the locality — Okhla assembly constituency,” said a BJP leader.
A press statement issued by Delhi BJP on Monday said that the people of Shaheen Bagh had understood the CAA, which is not to take away citizenship; hence Muslims are joining the BJP family.
The disgruntled group is of the view that senior leaders should have been consulted before planning inductions and credentials of people, intending to come to the party fold, should also be checked.
“Even, the president of the minority morcha was informed. This may cost the party dear. Our core Hindu voters may drift away. I came to know about the joining through the media,” said another senior party functionary. Delhi BJP’s general secretary Ravinder Gupta, however, sought to underplay the ‘resentment’ in the party. He said that the joining was unnecessarily being given religious twist by the AAP. “Whoever comes to BJP is welcomed with open arms,” said Gupta.
A group of Shaheen Bagh residents including social activist Shahzad Ali, also the secretary of Rashtriya Ulama Council’s city unit, Gynaecologist Dr Mehreen, interior decorator and former AAP workers Tabassum Hussain were inducted into the BJP in the presence of president of the BJP Delhi Adesh Kumar Gupta and national vice-president and in charge of Delhi unit Shyam Jaju on Sunday.