Ilyas frontrunner for president’s post in Jamaat’s political wing

The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind is all set to launch a political party, the Welfare Party of India,

which will field candidates in the 2012 assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. The official announcement in this regard will come on Monday. However, hectic negations are on within the Jamaat to choose its first president.

The frontrunner in the race is SQR Ilyas, the spokesperson of the Jamaat right now. Giving him competition is former member of Parliament Ilyas Azmi. What goes in favour of Azmi is that he is a seasoned politician. He has done two stints in Parliament. He was elected an MP on a Samajwadi Party ticket in 1996, and then he changed parties and won on a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket in 2004. However, the factor going against him is that he is not a member of the Jamaat.

The odds favour Ilyas as he has been a veteran in the Jamaat and known in the political circles as well. Ilyas is also a member of the Central Advisory Council of the Jamaat. Apart from this, he is the convener of an All India Muslim Personal Law Board committee on the Babri mosque issue.

The Jamaat will hold a meeting on Sunday to discuss the constitution of the new party and decide the candidates for various posts within the party. Jamaat members from all over the country will converge in Delhi for the meeting.Leaders from the organsiation say that people outside the Jamaat will also be considered for various posts in the party. It has already started roping in influential people with political connections from different states.

The new party is likely to test political waters in the Uttar Pradesh assembly election next year. “We are ready to align with like-minded groups and initiate discussion with them,” says Mujtaba Farooq, the secretary of the Jamaat.

The Jamaat had released a concept paper for the Welfare Party in February. The paper talked about welcoming Dalits and other backward castes in the party.