A MOTLEY group of 13 odd political outfits, the newly constituted Peoples Democratic Front (PDF), has decided to contest 147 seats in which Muslims form 25 per cent of the population in the next Assembly elections in the State.
Taking a dig at the Chief Minister, the PDF leaders said minus the support of Muslims, the Samajwadi Party would not be able to win more than 30 seats.
Talking to mediapersons party general secretary Nehaluddin and National Loktantrik Party chief Mohammad Arshad Khan termed the recent visit of the CM to Nadwatul-Ulema as sheer political drama. “But such gimmicks with an eye on the elections can no longer fool the community,” they said.
“If Mulayam really had the interest of Muslims at heart then he should not field SP candidates on the 147 seats on which we would be contesting,” said Nehaluddin. He said it was the growing public support for the PDF that had compelled the CM to call on the Muslim clergy and make all sorts of false promises to them regarding welfare measures for the community.
Ruling out any confrontation with the UP United Democratic Front of Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the PDF leaders said talks were on with them to evolve a consensus and forging a broader alliance. “PDF is not a political outfit. It is a people’s movement aimed at alleviating the lot of marginalised sections of the society, removing poverty and unemployment,” said Nehaluddin.
{{/usCountry}}Ruling out any confrontation with the UP United Democratic Front of Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the PDF leaders said talks were on with them to evolve a consensus and forging a broader alliance. “PDF is not a political outfit. It is a people’s movement aimed at alleviating the lot of marginalised sections of the society, removing poverty and unemployment,” said Nehaluddin.
{{/usCountry}}Supporting the Jan Morcha, which has been spearheading the Dadri agitation, the PDF demanded the resignation of the Chief Minister for “feigning ignorance” about the police action on the farmers recently. The PDF general secretary said that both the State and the Centre Governments were taking decision that were aimed at serving the interests of multinationals and corporate houses at the cost of common man.
The outfit announced that its executive committee would be headed by prominent Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad. The chief of its parliamentary board would be NLP’s Mohd Arshad Khan. Mohd Suleiman, Maulana Saif Abbas, Naiumullah Ansari and Professor Vishwas Kushwaha would be the vice-chairman of the committee.