This story is from March 27, 2019

I will change how party is perceived, says BJP Muslim candidate from West Bengal

I will change how party is perceived, says BJP Muslim candidate from West Bengal
Picture used for representational purpose only
KOLKATA: From being a BJP primary member in 2017 to being the first Muslim woman to contest Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal for the saffron party, Mafuja Khatun’s political journey has not been easy.
As a BJP leader who had switched over from CPM, Mafuja had to put up a fight to be accepted across communities. The former CPM MLA from Kumarganj in Dakshin Dinajpur joined BJP in 2017.
“It was not a sudden decision and I was ready for the challenges ahead. But it was not the same BJP that we used to be critical about earlier. You need to be an insider to understand the party,” she said.
“We have never seen any leader speaking against minority communities even during indoor meetings. I will share my experience with the voters to change the perception a section of the community has about the party,” Mafuja added.
Mafuja was first made an invitee member of the state committee. Gradually, she started getting noticed by the party’s Bengal leaders for her organizational skills. She was appointed vice president of the state unit of Minority Morcha in the next six months.
While the first Muslim woman to contest Lok Sabha polls on a BJP ticket (from Dhubri, Assam) was Jebin Borhuyan, Khatun is the first such from Bengal.
The decision to nominate her came after a prominent Bengal BJP leader wrote to party bosses in New Delhi advocating representation for Muslim women in the state.
While Mafuja is from Kumarganj, her close connection with Murshidabad started last year after she was made observer of Behrampore. BJP has been gradually making inroads in Jangipur over the years. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, both Congress and CPM had witnessed a large decline (20.4 % and 7.45% respectively) in vote share in Jangipur, while BJP had bagged 8.65% votes (a rise of 6.32%).
“Instant triple talaq has been an issue that has had an impact on Muslim women. There are around 2 lakh women in Murshidabad who have been a victim to that,” said Hossain Ali, president of BJP’s Minority Morcha.
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Rohit Khanna

Rohit Khanna covers sectors like government finance, economy, industry and issues related to financial crime.

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