Describing herself as a strict vegetarian who adheres to Muslim religious customs and practices, Shabana Anwar is, so far, the BJP’s lone Muslim woman face to emerge this poll.

A mother of two and a Hindi graduate, Shabana talks in a quaint mix of Hindi and Malayalam. She is a political novice who claims her candidature is, however, ‘‘a political ghar wapsi .’’ She will contest as the BJP candidate in the 16th ward of Palakkad municipality.

‘‘The community must distinguish between real and imagined enemies. False notions of secularism will take us nowhere,’’ says the 34-year-old, originally from Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh. According to her, those who still point to the Gujarat carnage of 2002 forget that Narendra Modi’s rule there had improved the life of Muslims by much.

‘‘I hail from a BJP family. My father, brothers, and close relatives are all active BJP members in Ratlam. My extended family there had always identified itself as a nationalist Muslim household. I am now returning to the roots of my family’s political orientation,’’ she says.

Her husband, Mr Anwar, is from Rajasthan. He runs a marble retailing business in Palakkad, and was the local BJP candidate in the last local bodies poll. He had lost, but is bullish about his wife’s prospects: ‘‘Because more Muslims in the neighbourhood now know about Modi’s development agenda,’’ Anwar said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / by K.A. Shaji / Palakkad – October 13th, 2015