Mumbai, March 8: Muslim leaders continue to trickle into the BJP, with former state education minister and former All India Haj Committee chairman Salim Zakaria joining the party today along with some others.

Maharashtra Muslim League functionaries Mohammed Farooq Azam and Shahnaz Begum Khan also joined the BJP today, vowing to work for “Atalji with conviction and commitment”.

The leaders, who were inducted in front of BJP state chief Gopinath Munde and Union ministers Ram Naik and Jayawantiben Mehta at the party headquarters here, said they were unhappy at the “lack of direction” in the Congress. They said the party had “let them down after years of promises”.

The new entrants brought along hundreds of people, including dozens of burqa-clad women, to the function.

The entry of Zakaria, a Congress leader who joined the Nationalist Congress Party when Sharad Pawar split the outfit in June 1999, is significant because he has a formidable standing in the community. His clout also derives from his having been an NCP general secretary.

Zakaria said the failure of the Congress-NCP Democratic Front government to fulfil its promises to Muslims had made him join the BJP.

“They (the government) said they would allocate Rs 500 crore to the Maulana Azad Muslim Welfare Corporation and set up hostels for poor Muslim and backward class students in every district of the state. But what happened? They remained promises and we have decided not to take it anymore. There had to be a decision made with the interests of the Muslim community in mind and some of us have made it today,” he said.

The new entrants said Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s sincere efforts at improving relations with Pakistan also contributed to change of heart. “We have seen the conviction of his (Vajpayee’s) gestures and all this will only benefit India’s Muslims,” the leaders said.

Zakaria took the safe line on Ayodhya, saying it was up to the courts to resolve the matter. Speaking about a uniform civil code, the leader said he was “confident” the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government would sound out Muslims and other minorities before taking a decision.

A happy Munde lost no time in trashing the Congress and its attempts to rubbish the Centre’s India Shining media blitz. The BJP state unit chief said today’s inductions proved Muslims were growing more confident about the party. “It is now established that the Muslims have begun to realise that they had been taken for a ride by the Congress and NCP in the state… Muslims are joining the BJP everywhere…” he said.