No Iftar at Yogi residence?

Fearing that his image of an aggressive Hindu leader may take a beating, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister (CM) Yogi Adityanath is not likely to hold Iftar Party – which is customary for all Chief Ministers, who despite their different political allegiance have held Iftar party regularly at CM’s official residence of 5, Kalidas Marg, Lucknow.

A senior official told National Herald there is no indication of whether the chief minister will hold iftar or not. “We have not been asked to make any preparation nor the CM’s office has issued any directive regarding this. I think CM will give a miss to Iftar this time,” the officer said seeking anonymity for obvious reasons.

If this happens, it will be the first time any chief minister in Uttar Pradesh will not hold Iftar party at his official residence. So far, Chief Minister Ram Prakash Gupta was the only exception to this and he did not hold Iftar due to grave political instability in the state during his time. The Iftar parties were held even during Kalyan Singh and Rajnath Singh’s time.

Kalyan Singh, who was Hindu mascot of BJP had waited patiently for Muslim clerics to offer namaz and then shared fruits and dates with them at Iftar function held during Ramzan at his official residence.

The possibility of no Iftar at CM’s residence comes at a time when BJP has been harping on Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas. Chief Minister himself has been saying time and again that he is not against Muslims and his government will protect the rights of Muslims. His tough stand against Triple talaq had won many Muslim hearts – particularly women – who had asked for Government help for those women who have been victim of triple talaq.

CM probably has missed an opportunity to build an image of a good administrator who looks at people of different religion with equal eye. Yogi seems to be more concerned about his image of a Hindu leader.

This has raised a big doubt on whether Yogi will attend Eid Ki Namaz at Tile wali Masjid in Lucknow, which is another tradition which all UP chief ministers and Governors have followed without fail.

Bharatiya Janata Party however wants to stay away from this controversy as its state general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said he had no knowledge whether CM will hold Iftar or not. “Our Rashtriya Muslim Manch , a Muslim wing of RSS, is holding Iftar parties regularly where products made from cow milk is used to break fast,” he said.

Governor Ram Naik would be holding the Iftar party next week. Congress too will be holding the Iftar on June 22.

Meanwhile, in a recent development, the Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday announced dissolving the Shia and Sunni waqf boards in the state in the wake of corruption charges against them. Minister of State for Waqf Mohsin Raza said the dissolution process has been started after taking into account all legal aspects.

There have been serious allegations of corruption against the Shia and Sunni waqf boards related to their properties. The role of the chairman of the Shia Waqf Board, Wasim Rizvi, as well as the minister for waqf in the previous Samajwadi Party government, Azam Khan, had come under scanner after the inquiry by the Waqf Council of India.