Mayawati's muslim conference tomorrow;sops likely to be announced

Lucknow, Oct 12 (UNI) The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP), aiming to woo the Muslim vote bank in the Lok Sabha elections, is holding a 'Muslim Conference' here tomorrow where Chief Minister Mayawati is expected to announce several sops for the minority community.

The BSP-sponsored Muslim Conference was an apparent effort to dent into the vote bank of the Samajwadi Party by the ruling party in the state.

Several cleric and maulanas have been invited to attend the conference and share dias with the Chief Minister. BSP General Secretary and Rajya Sabha member Satish Chandra Mishra yesterday personally invited All Indian Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) president Maulana Rabe Hassan Nadvi to the conference and even discussed with him the demands of the Muslim community.

State PWD Minister Nasimuddin Siddique was making all preparations for the conference to be held for the first time in the Mayawati's regime in the state.

Earlier during different occasions, muslim clerics and maulanas had met Ms Mayawati and had put before her several demands for the social, economic and cultural development of the community.

Prominent demands of the Muslims being considered by the UP government included government aid to recognised Madrasas, creation of a Muslim Development Board, a new Muslim university similar to that of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), reservation to the backward Muslims and stopping harassment of the community in the name of terrorism.

The Chief Minister during her address would also lash out at the Samajwadi Party for supporting the civil nuclear deal, terming it as an anti-Muslim approach.

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