Prof Ali Nadeem Rezavi
Aligarh: I have absolutely no idea as to which party and candidate is going to win the Aligarh seat in the polling which is due tomorrow! What I however know well is that in these elections, not a single candidate or his/her supporters could be seen campaigning in our vast area spanning over Dodhpur, Dhorra, Jamalpur and the University.
I can understand that Satish Gautam did not appear here in the “Muslim haven”: well his party has stated very openly time and again that they do not need Muslim votes.
But what about the opposition: (SP-Congress) common candidate? Perhaps he had two reasons not to be seen here: a) not to antagonise the “Hindu” votes that he has anything to do with this hated community; and b) he knows very well where the Muslim vote will go!
So why to make extra effort: inki to majburi hai! Dengey hi!
Satish Gautam was satisfied by appearing in a late evening “party” of Muslims in the house of a former VC, where many preset functionaries of AMU made a bee-line to attend and clap! Chaudhuri Vijendra Singh thought that even such a relaxed friendly meeting would be a waste of time!
If you don’t believe come over to Aligarh in my area and see for yourself: no banners, no slogans, no trudging from door to door – or even whisper campaign! A TV crew of a Canadian network and a correspondent from another country who came to interview me a few days ago, were quite puzzled at what they saw. “The entire area doesn’t seem to count in their calculations perhaps”, was his comment!
What will I do tomorrow? Well I will surely trudge along to my booth with my family to vote. Our votes will not be for any particular candidate or party. We will vote to safeguard our country, our constitution and the vision which our forefathers had for this nation!
Will our vote count? Maybe yes, maybe not! Quite possible that the EVM will “moderate” our choice with an unfortunate “malfunction“! Whatever. I will come back with a clear conscience that I did what I was supposed to do!
Hope you all do the same!
