MUMBAI: “Mumbai pays the highest tax (around 40% of the country's total), yet we were at the receiving end of a surgical strike. Businesses suffered a setback, jobs were axed, the poor died standing in queues...“You wouldn't be off the mark if you were to describe this as poll propaganda. This is from an ad put out last week in a morninger by the Shiv Sena against its biggest rival in the civic polls, the BJP.But that's just half the story. What makes the pitch interesting is that it was splashed all over the Urdu dailies on Friday. Call it desperation or stratagem, the Sena which fashioned an identity for itself by riling the minorities is now wooing them.Though a mere five of the 220-plus Sainiks in the fray are Muslims, the party is reaching out to the community like never before. Notices in Urdu newspapers is one of the indicators.Ever since Sena and BJP decided against an alliance for BMC polls, some of its leaders have warmed up to Muslims. “We are hoping to pick up a few more seats, especially in Govandi-Mankhurd area (a predominantly Muslim belt). Haji Arafat and I are aggressively campaigning and getting a huge response,“ said Sajid Soopariwala, vice-president, Maharashtra Shiv Vahtuk Sena (Haji Arafat is the president), a wing of the party active in the transport sector.Sena's efforts received a shot in the arm on Friday with sitting Congress corporator Shahana Rizwan Khan joining the party.Notorious for anti-Muslim tirades, especially in the 90's -the Srikrishna Commission which probed the 1992-1993 Mumbai riots blamed Sena founder late Bal Thackeray for stoking communal fires -the Sena has come a long way.Though it is not the first time it has sought to mend fences, the latest overture may soften perceptions that it is anti-minority. “Muslims enjoy the daily exchange of barbs between BJP and Sena leaders these days. That some Sena leaders are calling Narendra Modi a `feku' publicly is also a source of relief for us. If Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray walks his talk when he says that his party is not anti-Muslim but just concerned about Maharashtra's progress, a section of Muslim may support his candidates,“ said a community leader requesting anonymity.