Minorities look for third alternative in Guj

The battered minority community rendered homeless during the violence in Gujarat says it is time now to mobilise political loyalty "beyond" the two-party system.
It is time for us to shift the political loyalty beyond BJP and Congress, said a local Madarsa instructor Mahboob-ur-Rahman Qasmi.

There are many who endorse Qasmi's political assertiveness.

We await anxiously the emergence of a third party, may be regional, communist or even so-called casteist said a relief worker at the Shah-e-Alam Khan camp.

The general feeling among the relief workers and the inmates is that both BJP and Congress have "failed" to live upto the aspirations of the people and the status quo ought to be challenged by this "assertive force".
The final decision on dissolution of state assembly and fresh elections would be taken at state cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

We form a considerable section of voters and if we vote en bloc, it will make a significant impact, Abdullah, a resident of a minority-dominated colony near Dariayakhan said.

The minority inmates, including women, passing anxious and pitiable days in relief camps, argue that with the embattled BJP sparking off communal tension our duty to participate in the elections, has increased manifold.
According to them the time is ripe for seeking a third alternative -- even in the form of a regional outfit like that of Shankersinh Vaghela's Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP) or the Mahagujarat Janta Parishad of 1950s.
Bureau Report