Ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat has launched the “Alpasankhyak Mitra” (friends of minority) campaign to connect with the Muslims of the state. Under this campaign, at least 100 ‘minority friends’ will be appointed in the constituencies with a significant Muslim population. National President of BJP’s Minority Morcha, Jamal Siddiqui on September 11, 2022, informed that each Alpsankhyak Mitra will be assigned the responsibility to ensure that the BJP gets at least 50 minority votes from their surroundings.

As stated by Siddiqui:

The BJP’s minority cell has started a drive to connect at least 100 Muslims hailing from a non-political background with the party as its sympathizers. They could be spiritual leaders, professionals, entrepreneurs, and could also be those working in government.

Siddiqui further said that the members of the minority cell will be included in the BJP’s booth committees in 109 assembly segments of Gujarat that have a substantial Muslim population — from 25,000 to one lakh votes.

The state of Gujarat has a 9% Muslim population. The state will witness elections for the assembly in December 2022 tentatively.