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Voters in Bharuch show their preference for Congress, saying the party has not interfered in their ‘religious’ matters, unlike BJP.

Bharuch, Gujarat: In the narrow, winding lanes of a crowded basti in Bharuch’s Medina Hotel area, Mohammad Zuber was standing next to a small stall selling paan, candies and wafers under his house.

Zuber said he wants the Congress to come to power in the state, explaining that he was angry with the BJP because of inflation, demonetisation, “hollow promises” made by the party and its stand on the contentious issue of triple talaq.

“Modiji is just bol bachchan. He hasn’t brought in any development for us. Inflation, demonetisation and GST have hurt the common man. No government scheme reaches us, including Ujjwala,” Zuber said.

“But what angers us the most is the BJP’s interference in the issue of triple talaq. It is a question of our faith, our religion. The BJP is merely trying to polarise and use this issue for elections,” he added.

Sakina Begum, who runs the small kiosk under Zuber’s house, backed his argument. “We women here are not educated or well read. But I have heard that the BJP is trying to interfere in the triple talaq issue. Those who divorce their wives know why they are doing so, why should the government care,” she asked.

Clearly, the Muslim community of Bharuch, Gujarat, which comprises around 22 per cent of the total population of the district, throws its weight behind the Congress, with triple talaq snowballing into a major poll issue here.

“The Modi government has no business getting into the triple talaq issue. It’s our faith, our matter. The BJP is merely trying to show Muslim community in bad light. We are very angry,” said Khullam Patel, resident of Shifa.

Bharuch district, the home region of senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, has five assembly constituencies, of which four had elected BJP MLAs while one has a JD(U) legislator.

“We will follow the Shariat. We don’t interfere in other faiths; the BJP should stop trying to interfere in ours,” said Rafiq Patel who runs a shop in the APMC market.

“Congress khud khaati thi par humein bhi khilati thi. BJP toh sirf khud hi khati hai (Congress was corrupt, but it took care of us. However, BJP monopolises all of it for itself),” he added.

Move away from Bharuch town and the mood is no different. In Manubar village, which falls in the Vagra assembly constituency, Muhammad H. Patel said he likes Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s work and thinks BJP is trying to target the Muslim community through issues like triple talaq instead of focussing on development.

Outside a mosque in Karmad village, M.U. Patel and Ikram Bhai were sitting on a bench, doing some chit-chat. “Why do we prefer Congress to BJP? Call it inflation, their (BJP’s) communal attitude, lack of development, or their latest fad of interfering in our Islamic way of life through the triple talaq issue? The answer is clear,” M.U. Patel said summing up what most from his community members across Bharuch feel in the run-up to the Gujarat polls.

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