Late shehnai maestro Bharat Ratna Bismillah Khan?s family has refused to participate in the nomination process of Narendra Modi from Varanasi. However, members of the family said that if approached, they were always ready to perform at any of the party?s programmes.
Among those who have agreed to be Modi?s proposers are Hindustani vocalist Padma Bhushan Chhannu Lal Mishra, and former Allahabad High Court judge Justice Giridhar Malaviya, grandson of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya. Reports of Vishwanath Singh, of the famous Pappu Chaiwala at Assi ghat, also being a proposer have not been confirmed by the BJP.
Party leaders said at least 10 names were being considered and the final four proposers would be announced by Tuesday evening.
Modi will file his nomination on April 24 and plans for his roadshow, including garlanding the statues of Madan Mohan Malaviya at Banaras Hindu University and Swami Vivekanand have been finalised.
Talking to The Indian Express over phone, Affaq Haider, a grandson of Bismillah Khan who organises programmes during the birth and death anniversaries of the maestro, said: ?We got a call from BJP leaders on April 16. Initially, my father Zamin Hussain Khan and I thought it was an invitation for a musical performance. We met them and were told that Modi wanted one of us to be a proposer. We told them the entire family will have to be consulted. Following consultations, we told them we are into music, not politics. My grandfather belonged to entire India, not because he was from a particular party, but because of his music. However, we are available for Modi; we welcome him as a guest; we will perform if the BJP asks us to. If he wants to meet us or visit Khan saheb?s grave, we are all ready.?
Justice Malaviya, who is also a patron of Ganga Mahasabha established by his grandfather, said: ?When this proposal came from the BJP, I accepted it readily. The leftists have created a wrong impression that if we talk about our cultural heritage, we are reactionaries. I have heard Modi?s speeches; he is talking of taking everybody along. I cannot join politics at this stage, but as an intellectual I want to extend support to a man who is not into vote bank politics and talks of sarvadharm sambhav (treating all religions as equal).?
Pandit Mishra told The Indian Express that he agreed to be a proposer because Modi was the one to remember him first. ?We are from the music world. We are not into politics. It is not an endorsement of a particular party either. Had Sonia Gandhi (Congress president), or Mulayam Singh Yadav (Samajwadi party chief) remembered me first, I would have agreed to accompany them.?
Varanasi?s BJP mayor Ram Gopal Mohle said, ?There are four aspects of Varanasi?s heritage we want to be associated with: Ganga, Mahamana (Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya), sangeet (music) and bunkar (weavers)?. The names of a nishad (boatman) and weaver were also being considered.
