The Hindu : National : Congress confident of winning more seats in Uttar Pradesh

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 10, 2004

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National

Congress confident of winning more seats in Uttar Pradesh

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MAY. 9. Senior Congress leader and the Rajya Sabha MP Saifuddin Soz today asserted that there had been a significant shift in the attitude of the minorities, especially the Muslims, towards the party in Uttar Pradesh and claimed that the Congress would bag more seats than it did in the last general elections.

Prof. Soz, who had toured Uttar Pradesh, said here that the shift was decisive and the Congress would win between18 to 20 seats in the State. The party had won 10 seats in the last Lok Sabha elections.

He said that he felt that the minorities in the State had come to an understanding with other communities, which had reduced the level of tension. The shift came in the aftermath of the Gujarat riots, he said.

He said that during his campaign, the stress was on the strength of institutions such as the judiciary and cited the instances of the Bilkis rape case and Zahira Sheikh.

"In both cases, the people were encouraged by non-Muslims to speak the truth,'' he said.

According to him there was no need of more madarsas (seminaries) for the community. The accent, he said, should be on more schools for children of all communities.

He said the effort of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance Government to open more madarsas was not necessary.

The Congress leader and former Uttar Pradesh MLA, Kuldip Singh, dismissed the attempt by the BJP to raise the issue of the 1984 riots.

Mr. Kuldip Singh, who is the Chairman of the party's communal amity wing in the State, said the BJP and the Samajwadi Party did little for the community. He said the SP Government did not act to punish the officials who were found guilty by an inquiry commission.

Despite promises, the BJP Government in the State did not give compensation to the next of kin of those killed in the riots on a par with the level of compensation the Delhi Government paid to the victims.

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