The 'party' politics: An insight

Bangalore, Aug 6: Ramzan celebrations are equally boisturous inside the political fraternity as it is outside; the only difference being the former is politicized and the latter a ritual.

With the current spat of Iftar parties or at least their announcements (even before the Ramzan season starts, in some cases) by the so-called 'secular' honchos in the political fraternity has kept the moolahs mulling over the current state of political affairs that has not even spared religious festivals.

You would say it is a sign of a healthy state and a secular democracy that is meant for all, but we say it is a political maneuveur to attract muslim votes. With the crucial assembly elections knocking at the door, political parties are in a flurry to host the best, the biggest and the lavishest of Iftar parties. And mind it, these are open-to-all parties where anyone has a free entry.

SP Iftar

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at a Roza Iftar party in Lucknow.

Akhilesh Yadav at a Roza Iftar party

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at a Roza Iftar party in Lucknow on Sunday.

Mamata Banerjee with Muslims during an iftar party

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during an iftar party at Mohammedan Sporting Club in Kolkata on Monday.

Nitish Kumar during an Iftar party

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during an Iftar party in Patna.

Mumbai Iftar

Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan during an iftar party at Haj House.

The bollywood connect

Union Minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar with actor Sanjay Khan and filmmaker Subhash Ghai during a Roza Iftar party in Mumbai.

Crickter Irfan Pathan during a Roza Iftar party

Union Minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar with actor Sanjay Khan and cricketer Irfan Pathan during a Roza Iftar party in Mumbai.

Hemant Soren attending a Roza Iftar party

Jharkhand Governor Syed Ahmed (L) and Chief Minister Hemant Soren attending a Roza Iftar party in Ranchi.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan take part in a Roza Iftar party

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan take part in a Roza Iftar party in Bhopal.

Mamata Banerjee at a Iftar Party

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at a Iftar Party organised by Kolkata Municipality at Park Circus Maidan, Kolkata.

Chandra Sekaha Rao at an iftar party

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President and MP K.Chandra Sekaha Rao at an iftar party, organized by party MLC Mahmood Ali at Azampure, in Hyderabad on Monday.

In fact, the bigger the parties are, the better as bigger parties draw bigger crowd, hence attracting more votes. For example, in Uttar Pradesh, the Akhilesh-led ruling party is raising eyebrows as they host iftar party as a political show of strength. To be held on the side of the Ganga and on the last day of Ramzan (when all the parties would have been done with their iftar parties), the Iftar party held by the SP is expected to be magnificent.

And why not? there would be two in a row-one hosted by the party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav at the party headquarters and the other by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav at his official residence. That is not all, SP leaders have been directed to host smaller parties in their individual constituencies.

Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) too try to score points with the Muslim communities. BSP, which is known for hosting iftar only when it is in power (for obvious reasons) seems to be making an exception this time.

Did you say Iftar funds? well.. we choose not to discuss where these funds come from in the auspicious occasion of Ramzan.

OneIndia News