NEW DELHI: State Minister for external affairs Salman Khurshid has said that the mood of the minority community was still not favorable towards the Congress despite efforts to woo them back into the party fold.
Mr. Khurshid can be credited with feeling the pulse of the Muslim electorate better than other leaders as he was one of the only five out of 85 Congress nominees elected from UP in the last parliamentary polls. ‘Answering questions in an interview, he said, “The Congress government at the Center has taken measures for the welfare of the minority community; the party has organized rallies to inform the people how non-Congress governments in Uttar Pradesh had failed on all fronts but despite all this, it would be incorrect to say that we have won them over.”
Mr, Khurshid said, “People are reconciled to the fact that the final verdict with regard to the reconstruction of the mosque at the spot where it stood earlier or anywhere nearby is to be given by the court, But what the average Muslim voter would like to make sure, however is that the state government should be able to implement the court decision as and when it is known.”
“Will the Congress do it? This is the most important question worrying the ‘Muslim psyche and the answer to it, to an extent, will determine the pattern of voting in the coming elections,” he said.
There is no doubt about the Congress winning support of large chunk of committed Muslim voters who for generations have stood by the party. But the elections are won and lost by the behavior of the floating voters. You have no clue where they will go.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 1, 1995
