BJP says Mukhtar Ansari will support Narendra Modi; his party denies claim

New Delhi: Confusion prevails over the much coveted support of the Quami Ekta Dal, led by jailed don Mukhtar Ansari, who is said to control close to 1.5 lakh Muslim votes in Varanasi.
While some BJP leaders claim the jailed don’s brother Afzal Ansari, the outfit’s president, met saffron leaders in Delhi Saturday to assure its support to BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi, who is contesting from Varanasi, Quami Ekta Dal spokesman Shiv Kumar Rai, speaking to Deccan Chronicle, denied it completely.

He refuted earlier reports that the QED had decided to support Congress candidate Ajay Rai. “We have not decided to support any party as yet. Our president has not met anyone. Our main goal is to defeat the BJP, and for that we shall take a decision soon,” he said in a telephonic chat.

Ansari kin hits out at Mulayam
Sources in the BJP claimed Afzal Ansari, brother of jailed don Mukhtar Ansari, of Quami Ekta Dal, had met a section of senior party leaders in Delhi to discuss its support to Mr Modi. “Yes, he met us and assured us support, but nothing is official as yet,” a senior BJP leader who claimed to have met Afzal said.

There is a tug of war going on in Varanasi constituency, which has around 3.5 lakh Muslim voters. Of this, the QED, led by Mukhtar Ansari, is said to control nearly 1.5 lakh.
There are reports that Afzal Ansari told a section of the local media in Varanasi that the party had decided to support Mr Modi. “The country needs Modi. Muslims will be safe when he becomes Prime Minister. This is why the uslims of Varanasi are considering supporting him.” he reportedly said.

He also allegedly attacked SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, saying while then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had managed to teach “rajdharma” to Mr Modi after the 2002 Gujarat riots, the SP chief could “not teach raj dharma to his son Akhilesh after the Muzaffarnagar riots”.

QED spokesman Shiv Kumar Rai, however, speaking to Deccan Chronicle, denied all of this, saying the party would “hold a press meet in Varanasi on Tuesday, and sue all those who had concocted the report”.
Speculation is rife though that Afzal’s reported move to support Mr Modi was shot down by his brother, Mukhtar, who is the party’s main face. There were also doubts on the QED’s possible support to the Congress as its leader, Mukhtar Ansari, is serving a jail sentence for allegedly killing the brother of Congress candidate Ajay Rai, who is also a local strongman.

There are also reports that AAP candidate Arvind Kejriwal is holding parleys with Mukhtar Ansari, and had written a letter to Mukhtar, now in Agra jail, “thanking” him for his proposed support. The AAP had blamed the BJP for the “fake” letter and threatened to sue the party.

Mukhtar had contested the 2009 general election as a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate, and lost by a slim margin to the BJP’s Murli Manohar Joshi.
With several parties trying desperately to get their hands on the Muslim vote, the Congress is reportedly trying to persuade the Samajwadi Party to withdraw its candidate, Kailash Prasad Chaurasia, as it feels that only a “common candidate” can stand up to Mr Modi, or else the Muslim vote will be split three ways between the Congress, SP and AAP.