Rahul plays on politics of minority

MINORITY REPORT: Muslims never went back to the Congress after 1991, something even Cong minority leaders admit.

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Uttar Pradesh: Muslim in Uttar Pradesh are radicalised as never before. They are angry about the Danish cartoons, they are outraged by the visit of George Bush and they are demanding minority status for the Aligarh Muslim University.

Now, every political party wants the Muslim vote and no wonder then Rahul Gandhi's statement:

"Had my family been in power at that time, Babri would not have been demolished," is what the scion of the Gandhi family had to say.

To this, AIMPLB member, Khalid Rasheed said, "They did not do any work in UP. They failed to establish ties with the Muslim community. There is no tilt towards the Congress in UP."

For the Congress, which had a substantial Muslim vote bank in UP, Babri Masjid demolition proved to be a turning point.

Since then Muslims have dramatically drifted away from the Congress and the party has not only lost its traditional seats but there has also been a steep decline in its vote share.

Muslims are now an important vote bank of Mulayam Singh Yadav and have not hesitated to support even his arch rival Mayawati. But they never went back to the Congress after 1991 - something every minority leaders of the Congress understand.

Says a member of the Congress Minority Cell in UP, Shakeel Farooqui, "Not just the Muslims, Dalits and others have also deserted us."

But the fact of the matter is that the Muslim vote is out there waiting, and Rahul Gandhi has thrown his hat into the ring.