Sants, maulanas to float secular front
Pramod Krishnam of Kalkidham and Maulana Tauqir Raza of Bareilly hope to corner ‘secular votes’.
AHindu saint and a Muslim cleric are joining hands in Uttar Pradesh in an attempt to form a political party of sants and maulanas, called the Secular Front of India. Acharya Pramod Krishnam runs the Kalkidham in Sambhal, which awaits the arrival of Lord Kalki in this Kalyug. The clericpolitician is Maulana Tauqir Raza, a scion of the family of Ahmad Raza Barelvi, a renowned Islamic spiritual figure from Bareilly. They say that their party will focus on secularism to counter the commercial and communal corruption of Congress, BJP and Samajwadi Party. However, some commentators in western Uttar Pradesh say that the front may actually be a political manoeuvring by these religious figures to garner votes in favour of some political party.
Talking to The Sunday Guardian, Acharya Krishnam said that the commercial and communal corruption by the Congress and BJP has given rise to political corruption, which is the root of all governance related evils in our country. “Hence, to counter this, we have decided to float our own party. We are in touch with religious figures from both the Hindu and Muslim communities. Apart from Raza Saheb, we are in touch with Maulana Roshed Rizvi, Yogi Rakesh, Swami Chinmayanand, etc. We plan to contest around 35 seats across the country, with the maximum number of seats in UP. We plan to contest from Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Amroha, Moradabad, Bareilly, Sambhal, Lucknow, Jaunpur, Amethi and Rae Bareli in UP, and then some seats in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar and Maharashtra,” he said.
The Acharya added that the announcement of the proposed front will be made in Delhi soon.
Tauqir Raza confirmed to The Sunday Guardian that such a front is very likely. “Pramodji has met me and we will soon announce the formation of our front,” said Raza.
Raza already runs his own political party, Ittehad- eMillat Council, and was even a minister of state in the Akhilesh Yadav government. He resigned after the Muzaffarnagar riots. He was the only notable Muslim who quit from his post after the riots Meanwhile, j ournalists and political pundits from western UP are of the opinion that the formation of such political fronts is a routine pre-election culture and that political opportunists are trying to cash in on
Some commentators in western Uttar Pradesh say that the front may actually be a political manoeuvring by THESE RELIGIOUS fiGURES to garner votes in favour of some political party.
“secularism”.
“Acharya Pramod Krishnam and Maulana Raza are from an ashram and a dargah. The Acharya failed in politics as he was barred by the Election Commission to contest the 1993 Assembly elections, but he has managed to wield considerable influence in UP because of his Kalkidham. Raza has managed to create some political influence because of his oratory and Barelvi lineage. The two have j oined hands to cash in on the prepoll vacuum in UP politics. They might even be working for political parties like the Congress or the Bahujan Samaj Party,” said a political analyst.