‘If SP chief really wants to neutralise BJP, he must take on Modi in Varanasi’

The Rashtriya Ulema Council, which was formed against the backdrop of the 2008 Batla House encounter in New Delhi, is ready to challenge Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh in Azamgarh in the Lok Sabha elections.

Though it is yet to be officially announced, the RUC is mulling over fielding its president Maulana Aamir Rashadi against him. A decision is expected in the next couple of days. The proposal was discussed at the RUC parliamentary board meeting here on Monday.

“The members were of the collective opinion that Maulana Rashadi should be fielded against Mulayam Singh,” said general secretary Tahir Madani. He added the sadr (president) had almost agreed to the proposal.

The RUC, which came into the limelight in 2009 when it took hundreds of Muslims on a train from Azamgarh to Delhi, does not buy the SP argument that Mr. Singh is contesting from Azamgarh to prevent the BJP from capitalising on the “Modi effect” in Purvanchal (eastern Uttar Pradesh). “If Mulayam Singh indeed wants to neutralise the BJP, then he should contest against Narendra Modi in Varanasi and the Ulema Council will support the SP president,” said Maulana Madani.

But it is Mr. Mulayam Singh’s candidature and the likely effect it will have on the fortunes of other SP candidates in the neighbouring constituencies and, on the flip-side, of the BJP, that have made the Azamgarh election something to be keenly watched.