U.P. BJP plans to organise International Yoga Day event in dargahs, madrasas

The Minority Morcha will also launch campaign under which it would try to convince Muslims to become ‘Modi Mitra’

In an attempt to expand its footprints among Muslim voters, the Uttar Pradesh unit of BJP Minority Morcha has planned to organise yoga sessions in madrasas and dargahs in the State on June 21 — on International Yoga Day. The Minority Morcha will also launch campaign under which it would try to convince Muslims to become ‘Modi Mitra’ (friend of Prime Minister Narendra Modi).

The campaign will be organised in 29 Lok Sabha seats of the State, of which 15 parliamentary constituencies have sizeable Muslim population.

Kunwar basit Ali, president of State BJP Minority Morcha, told The Hindu, “For the International Yoga Day event, we have identified 900 places such as dargahs and madrasas, where people from the Muslim community can gather and take party in the programme.

He added, the Morcha is also aiming to make 5,000 ‘Modi Mitra’. “Our Morcha will campaign to make ‘Modi Mitra’ in 29 parliamentary segments in the State. Of this, 14 seats are those where we lost election in 2019 and 15 constituencies have sizable Muslim population,” he added.

The BJP is continuously trying to to reach out to a section of Muslim population through Minority meetings focused on Pasmanda Muslims, doubling tickets in recently concluded local body polls and nominating former Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Vice-Chancellor Tariq Mansoor to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council. The community constitutes roughly 20% of the State’s population and have sizeable presence in more than 25 parliamentary seats.