For Modi's BJP that has been concreted with an anti-Muslim propaganda, the party is now endearing the Muslim community that's working to put Modi in power for the third consecutive term. As India is heading for a crucial general election during the first quarter of 2024, the event of BJP's foes becoming their friends has turned heads from across the nation. 

When the Modi led-BJP regime has been building contentious policies against Muslims and other minorities throughout its nine-year reign, a section of Muslim community that's going extra mile to help Modi win the 2024 Lok Sabha polls has certainly surprised the nation and Reuters has brought their pro-Modi efforts to light. These Muslim campaigners are disseminating the BJP government's welfare schemes to woo the voters. 

According to Reuters, BJP has been turning some Muslim men as Modi's friends. The party has enlisted Nafis Ansari, a school principal in Madhya Pradesh, this year as a 'Modi Mitr'- a friend of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ansari is engaged in promoting the BJP to his neighbours and relatives at events such as weddings and tea sessions at friends' homes. One of the primary talking points of Ansari is how BJP's welfare policies are benefitting all communities and how Modi's regime is strengthening India as a global power. 

Interestingly, Ansari is part of 25,000 Muslims volunteering to help Narendra Modi to win a third term as the Prime Minister. Reuters had quoted BJP's minorities wing head Jamal Siddiqui saying that the party looks for community leaders like educators, entrepreneurs, clerics, and retired government employees willing to objectively assess Modi. Yasser Jilani, the spokesperson for BJP's minorities unit said that the party, which won about 9 per cent of the Muslim vote in the past two national elections, is aiming to win between 16 to 17 per cent of Muslim votes in the upcoming general elections. 

Reuters reported that it had interviewed five Modi Mitrs and six BJP officials responsible for election strategy and they said that the party is hoping to use its economic record and its plans to introduce religion- agnostic laws on inheritance and gender rights to win over underprivileged Muslim voters, including women, in 65 key seats. In the midst of conferring little or no Muslim representation at the central cabinet or in the Parliament, the BJP's current Muslim outreach is being built with a target of covering India's 200 million Muslims. 

Though religious discrimination, religious polarization, and repeated persecution against Muslim population in form of anti-Islamic hate speech and violent vigilantism, the Modi administration has been under criticism for turning blind eye on such crimes and for offering plausible deniability. Senior BJP leader Syed Zafar Islam said that the violence between Muslims and the Hindu majority is deep-rooted but only makes headlines now because political rivals use it to target the party when it holds power. 

Two BJP officials told Reuters that the party is focused on 65 seats in the 543-member lower house of the Parliament that have a Muslim voter population of at least 30 per cent, roughly double their share of the national population. Reuters reported that this outreach of 'Modi Mitr' focuses on spreading the BJP's economic message especially to the marginalised members of the Muslim community who make up a majority numbers. 

Nafis Ansari has been talking to Muslim friends and neighbours about new programmes such as Rs 1,250  monthly handout for underprivileged women in Madhya Pradesh and a Rs 1,50,000 housing subsidy launched by the Union government. Ansari boasts, "BJP's welfare schemes are helping everyone, including Muslims." Reuters also interviewed Ujir Hossain, who is a Modi Mitr and businessman in West Bengal. 

Hossain spreads an economy-focused message locally and he said he was attracted to the BJP because there is a 'sky and earth difference' between Modi's accomplishments and those of the previous centre-left government. Mohammed Qasim, one of the listeners of Hossain's message, said, "Of course, Muslims don't like Modi's party but Hossain tells us at least we should listen to what BJP has to offer too." 

Islam, a BJP leader and former India head of Deutsche Bank, said that the opposition has taken Muslim votes for granted and neglected their welfare. He said, "We have a long way to go, the gap is too steep but it's getting bridged." BJP's outreach to the Muslim women include its pledge to reform personal laws and some Muslim women say that BJP's plan will end religious practices on marriage age, polygamy, and inheritance that are discriminatory toward women. 

However, owing to BJP's hardcore Hindutva propaganda against Muslims, many Muslims had admitted that they live in fear of Hindu activists who are encouraged by BJP's politics of cultural nationalism. Political expert named Ahmed said that the BJP is likely to make gains with Muslims next year unless it is countered by the opposition. "The BJP has a dual strategy of demonising Muslims for its hardline base and wooing sections of the Muslim population", Ahmed added. 

The opposition parties have raised obvious doubts on BJP's Muslim outreach and a motive behind it. Ghanshyam Tiwari, a spokesperson of the opposition Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh said that the BJP's position as the ruling party gives it the ability to make policies that can win over some Muslims. Tiwari further said, "But no matter what BJP does, it doesn't change its core colours, core elements, which remain an anti-Muslim and anti-minority approach." 

Reuters quoted the Congress general secretary KC Venugopal saying, "The BJP has never respected and addressed the concerns of this section of society and instead marginalised them systematically." While responding to the allegations of minority appeasement, he said that Congress doesn't pursue a strategy of divide and rule. "Elections should be fought on economic and development issues not on the basis of religion and identity", Venugopal added.