Elections 2014 : Muslims may mar BJP’s party

New Delhi: The Muslim turnout in Uttar Pradesh could go up in a bid to prevent the so called “Modi wave”, feels BJP spin-doctors. With the Muslims of Uttar Pradesh likely to go in for strategic voting, the saffron party is focusing on consolidating its “Hindu vote bank” in the state, which has 80 Lok Sabha seats.

The BJP has to get a minimum 45 Lok Sabha seats in UP to make it to Delhi. The Muslims in the state are likely to go in for winning candidates against the BJP. The party is expected to benefit with the one-fifth of the state’s Muslim votes splitting three ways  between the Congress, SP and BSP. Incidentally, the BJP has not fielded any Muslim candidate in UP.

Though BJP chief Rajnath Singh had indicated that the party was willing to “bow down” to Muslims, the Modi camp was not in the mood to extend the gesture “at the cost of the Hindu vote bank”, sources said.

The signal was clear when BJP’s PM candidate Narendra Modi’s man Friday, Amit Shah, virtually exhorted the Jats to vote for “revenge”.

There is a line of thinking in the party that the minority vision document could be released if the BJP comes to power, sources said. The manifesto, however, would have some “sops” for the minority community.