Lucknow, Sept. 23: Rahul Gandhi today concluded the first phase of his 18-day Kisan Yatra with a visit to Nadwatul Uloom, a famous Sunni seminary in Lucknow, where he met its head Maulana Syed Mohammad Rabe Hasan Nadwi who is also chairman of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
Sources in the madarsa said although the Congress vice-president did not ask directly for support in the 2017 Assembly election, he said there was need to choose a national party to defeat "a divisive Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi".
This was Rahul's second visit to the seminary - he had made his first trip in December 2011, before the last Assembly polls. That visit did not earn the Congress any political dividends.
Nadwatul Uloom's founder, the late Maulana Syed Abul Hasan Nadwi aka Ali Mian, was known for his proximity to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Ali Mian belonged to Rae Bareli, a political stronghold of the Nehru-Gandhi family, and it was with his support that the Congress would get Muslim votes three decades ago.
However, during the BJP's Ram Janmabhoomi movement, Mulayam Singh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party won over the community.
Rahul met the vice-president of the Muslim personal law board, Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, before visiting Nadwa. Sources said he sought the support of the Shia cleric in the 2017 Assembly polls. Another cleric, Maulana Sayyad Abbas, was present at the meeting.
Sheila Dikshit, the chief ministerial candidate of the Congress, Ghulam Nabi Azad, party in-charge for Uttar Pradesh, and Raj Babbar, the state party chief, accompanied Rahul to the two meetings.
The Congress vice-president later set out on a road show in the state capital that passed through the minority-dominated Lakkhi Darwaza, Kaisarbagh, Nakkhas Crossing and Akbari Gate neighbourhoods.
Muslims constitute 18.50 per cent of Uttar Pradesh's population. Out of the 403 Assembly constituencies, there are more than 125 where the Muslim population is more than 35 per cent.
Rahul today also visited the St Joseph Cathedral, Yahiyaganj Gurudwara, Hanuman Setu temple and a shrine to Ravidas, the Dalit poet-saint. He announced a Rs 40-lakh donation from the Congress for the renovation of BR Ambedkar Hostel in the capital.
The Congress leader addressed half-a-dozen street corner meetings during his road show and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been ignoring the interests of the people of the country. "He had used the rhetoric of a 56-inch chest and said he would bring back 10 heads if one Indian soldier was killed. But on becoming Prime Minister, he started sari-shawl diplomacy. He attended wedding celebrations and birthday parties with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif," he said.
He alleged that Modi's Pakistan policy lacked cohesive pragmatism. "Pakistan stood isolated because of the policies of the UPA government. But now it is repositioning itself because of the weaknesses of Modi government," he alleged.
Rahul today completed 1,500km of his yatra, which was launched from Deoria on September 6. The second phase of 1,000km, concluding in Delhi, is expected to start next week.
