BJP attempts to build bridges with Muslims ahead of polls
24 Jun 2013 4:31 AM IST
With an eye on the upcoming Delhi assembly elections, the BJP's state unit on Sunday raised a new slogan of 'daraar nahi, pyar' (no rift, only love) to woo Muslim voters.
Muslims constitute over 12 per cent of the electorate in the capital. The party has promised the community an equal share in the development process of Delhi. The BJP hit out at the Congress for treating Muslims merely as a vote bank.
'The Congress governments have duped Muslims in the past by running nefarious campaigns against the BJP and raising the bogey of secularism while keeping them (Muslims) backward,' said Vijay Goel addressing a rally of Muslims at the Talkatora Stadium on Sunday.
The rally, which was organised by the minority wing of the party, witnessed around 10 thousand people who came from across the city. The party promised to upgrade education facilities for Muslims, greater employment opportunities through skill development, training and credit facilities, adequate share in housing schemes for weaker sections, overhauling of infrastructure in areas with minority concentration and professional management of Wakf Board,
Delhi Haj Committee, Urdu Academy and Minority Development Finance
Corporation if it is voted back to power.
Goel even promised to introduce Urdu an optional subject in Delhi government and NDMC schools and filling of all the vacant posts for Urdu teachers.
'Congress government has deliberately thrown Muslims into ghettos. It is time to stop treating Muslims as vote banks. They must get their due and be equal partners in all growth endeavours in the city,'
Goel added.
Senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who was also present at the rally said, 'The so-called proponents of secularism have ensured that today half of the Muslim population is living below poverty line. Whether it is education, safety or prosperity, Muslims remain a neglected lot.'
Naqvi even accused Congress of creating a phobia over the issue of communalism.
Speaking at the rally BJP's Minority Morcha president Atif Rasheed said, 'Muslims cannot be taken for a ride. They will go with a party like any other citizen which is concerned about their development.
Muslims constitute over 12 per cent of the electorate in the capital. The party has promised the community an equal share in the development process of Delhi. The BJP hit out at the Congress for treating Muslims merely as a vote bank.
'The Congress governments have duped Muslims in the past by running nefarious campaigns against the BJP and raising the bogey of secularism while keeping them (Muslims) backward,' said Vijay Goel addressing a rally of Muslims at the Talkatora Stadium on Sunday.
The rally, which was organised by the minority wing of the party, witnessed around 10 thousand people who came from across the city. The party promised to upgrade education facilities for Muslims, greater employment opportunities through skill development, training and credit facilities, adequate share in housing schemes for weaker sections, overhauling of infrastructure in areas with minority concentration and professional management of Wakf Board,
Delhi Haj Committee, Urdu Academy and Minority Development Finance
Corporation if it is voted back to power.
Goel even promised to introduce Urdu an optional subject in Delhi government and NDMC schools and filling of all the vacant posts for Urdu teachers.
'Congress government has deliberately thrown Muslims into ghettos. It is time to stop treating Muslims as vote banks. They must get their due and be equal partners in all growth endeavours in the city,'
Goel added.
Senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who was also present at the rally said, 'The so-called proponents of secularism have ensured that today half of the Muslim population is living below poverty line. Whether it is education, safety or prosperity, Muslims remain a neglected lot.'
Naqvi even accused Congress of creating a phobia over the issue of communalism.
Speaking at the rally BJP's Minority Morcha president Atif Rasheed said, 'Muslims cannot be taken for a ride. They will go with a party like any other citizen which is concerned about their development.
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