HINDUSTAN TIMES : 5TH DECEMBER 2007 If Narendra Modi was to run for elections from this portside town in Gujarat where more than 80 per cent residents are Muslims, he would probably win hands down.
According to conventional wisdom, the BJP should not get a single Muslim vote in a state often described as deeply divided on religious lines. But many here are breaking the taboo, moving on from the bitterness and horror of the riots in 2002, when the state government was accused of doing little to protect Muslims.
Sikka in Jamnagar district elected 19 members of the BJP among its 21 councillors two years ago. Of them, 14 are Muslims.
%u201CSince 1947, the Congress was continuously returned to power here. For the first time, everyone supported the BJP in the urban bodies poll last year on hopes that we would also get a share in the gains of development,%u201D said Ahmedbhai Dawoodbhai, a 58-year-old fisherman. %u201CWe will vote for the BJP in these elections, too.%u201D
