Their voices overpowered by the din of competing slogans, and their entourages outnumbered by those of opposing political parties campaigning in the narrow lanes of Chamrajpet, Noorunnisa Subhan and Naveed Bano hold their own.
With their husbands by their side, the two young women, contesting in Padarayanapura and Jagjivanramnagar wards, respectively, go door to door handing out brochures and asking residents to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
So small is the Muslim representation among BJP's candidates (only six Muslims are contesting on BJP ticket) that Noorunnisa Subhan and Naveed Bano are almost anomalies in the party. Making them more conspicuous is the fact that they are garnering votes from a largely Muslim population, in a Janata Dal (Secular)-stronghold.
Followed by a motley crew of supporters, a confident 27-year-old B.Com graduate Noorunnisa Subhan hears her residents out. The list of civic problems is endless: poor sewerage, crumbling roads, mounting garbage and power outages. Her husband, a long-time BJP supporter, meanwhile, begins reading aloud from a list he has prepared about the State Government's contribution to the welfare of Muslims, including the Rs. 5-crore allocation for the construction of a Haj Bhavan and Rs. 207 crore for minorities in the 2010-11 Budget.
Noorunnisa Subhan and Naveed Bano are both candid that had their wards not been reserved for women, their husbands would have stood instead. Naveed Bano is a 35-year-old homemaker and a mother of four. Her husband says he is in fact known as “BJP Mehboob Khan”. The fact that the BJP Government had allotted a ministerial post to Mumtaz Ali Khan (Minister for Minorities Welfare Wakf and Haj) was encouraging for the community, he feels.
Residents though will be harder to please. Fayaz, a vegetable vendor, says that BJP has “no hope” of winning in the constituency. “The area has been dominated by the Congress and the Janata Dal(S). The only way the BJP can win is if they create panic,” he says. His friend added that the recent riots in Mysore and Davangere had distanced the community from the BJP.
As tentative as they might be in the unfamiliar and male-dominated world of electoral politics, the campaign experience has given these first-time contestants confidence. “I was nervous at first. But as I began interacting with the voters I gained confidence,” Noorunnisa Subhan said.
