BJP toes Modi’s line; woos minorities

Taking forward Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s case to the Muslims in Bihar, the BJP would be organising minorities conference in Patna on July 14, which will be attended by all the party leaders in the state.Though Narendra Modi would not be a part of the convention, lest Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar gets provoked to sever ties with the BJP, party leaders like Shahnawaz Hussain, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Ravi Shankar Prasad will toe his line, endorsing the contents of the controversial advertisement. Besides Gujarat, the BJP leaders will also highlight the party’ policies towards Muslims pursued during Vajpayee-led NDA tenure and presently in all the BJP-ruled states.The very fact that the convention is being organised in Patna weeks after the tug-of-war between Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar indicates that the tension between the two coalition partners still persists. The BJP is keen to toe Modi’s line not only to project that the party stands solidly behind him but also to indicate that they, too, are equally concerned about the plight of Muslims and are doing their best to uplift them. The example of Modi’s Gujarat would be given, where Muslims are prospering in all walks of life.The message also aims to rectify the error in the controversial advertisement, where instead of Gujarat, a photograph of the Madarsa in Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh was shown. The speakers would come out with actual figures to support Modi’s contention that Gujarat in no way lags behind any other state in providing education and employment to the minority community.Talking to Express, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said, “We are not anti-Muslim, though we don’t take credit like others. It is our duty to protect the poorest of the poor and to bring them forward.”The conference, which is being organised by the State Bihar unit of the party is supposed to be attended by 10,000 people. The holding of the Convention at this juncture assumes significance since Nitish is all for doling out sops for Muslims, lest they switch sides to the opposition camp. Besides assuring recognition to 2400 Madarsas, the JD(U) has demanded SC status for over one crore Dalit Muslims in Bihar. Nitish will also be attending the national convention of the All-India Pasmanda Muslim Mehaz, to take up the cause of the OBC Muslims, organised by JD (U) Rajya Sabha MP Ali Anwar.

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