SHENAZ BIHARI is keen to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The 29-year-old, who recently joined the BJP in the presence of Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, is a beneficiary of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019. Her advocate, Govind Makwana, said that Sarfaraz Khan, her husband and a government employee, gave her talaq and eloped with a Hindu girl three years ago.
Khan is now in jail and has been suspended from service. He is appealing and Bihari, mother to an 11-year-old girl, will need support. She is likely to find it in her new party. Her cousin, Jamsher Khan, too, joined the BJP. Both claimed that they used to be Congress supporters.
They are not the only voters the Congress is likely to lose to the saffron party. Twenty MLAs and leaders have left it to join the BJP since the 2017 elections. Hardik Patel, who was key to the party’s 77-seat haul in 2017, is now with the BJP. Moreover, the Congress has been out of power in Gujarat for 27 years. So, at a glance, winning the polls may seem like a cakewalk for the BJP. But, that is not how it is approaching the contest. Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are campaigning and supervising electioneering—a bad showing in his home turf can dent Modi’s image ahead of the 2024 general elections.
This story is from the November 06, 2022 edition of THE WEEK India.
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This story is from the November 06, 2022 edition of THE WEEK India.
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