Fatima Rasool Siddique, daughter of former state minister and Congress leader Rasool Ahmed Siddique is contesting from the Bhopal North. Her father had won from Bhopal North as the Congress candidate twice – in 1980 and 1985. On Monday, Fatima Siddique said, she joined BJP as she was impressed by the good work being done by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for all sections of the society.
The 35-year-old got the party ticket to fight the upcoming Assembly Polls from the Bhopal North seat against five-time MLA of the Congress, Arif Aqueel, who had contested against her father in 1993. In 1993, the BJP’s Ramesh Sharma had defeated Fatima’s father Rasool Siddique. After Mr. Siddique’s death, her wife’s demand to contest the election was rejected by Congress. Since then the family had been feeling let down by the Congress, a family member of Fatima Siddique said.
Fatima Siddique is contesting against Arif Aqueel of the Congress, the man who had defeated and then replaced her father from North Bhopal seat. This is not just a fight to win election but to show the real face of Congress. Congress blames BJP of being anti-Muslim but in reality, it is the congress that appeases Muslim for the sake of its vote bank politics. On her admission to the BJP she said “I was approached in the 2013 polls too, but I had some reservations and couldn’t make up my mind on time,” she said. “This time around, there was no hesitation, as I have seen the warm-hearted kindness of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan especially towards the girl child.” The BJP has actively supported the women empowerment of Muslim community and that’s why they have chosen the woman candidate to prove that they actually care for the Muslims unlike Congress.
Fatima Siddique is significant for the BJP as it was evident when CM Shivraj accompanied her to file her nomination papers. It is not only a fight for her father’s honor who was mistreated by the Congress, but also a fight to prove that she is with the party that cares for Muslim women (BJP’s stand on triple talaq, nikah halala) and not with the party that uses Muslims for the sake of appeasement. BJP has also fielded Syed Shahezadi, a young Muslim woman against AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi from Chandrayangutta constituency in Hyderabad, to take on AIMIM leader Akbaruddin. For BJP, the development of women in Muslim community is a priority and this election it will be women empowerment versus the appeasement politics of Congress.