Former Union Minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad. FIle
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday (November 12, 2024) accused the Congress and its allies of conspiring with conservative and divisive elements in Muslim communities for electoral gains in Maharashtra and Jharkhand as they were apprehensive about their imminent defeat.
Former Union Minister and BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad was responding to the All India Ulema Board’s recent conditions for its support to the Congress-led alliance in Maharashtra, which the State Congress chief said would be considered. However, when a controversy erupted, the Congress did not take a clear stand on the issue, Mr. Prasad said, addressing a press conference.
Claiming that NGOs were being used to galvanise support, the BJP leader showed a purported leaflet of the Marathi Muslim Seva Sangh which is being circulated in Maharashtra. The leaflet asks people if they would vote for those “who wanted to interfere with Shariat (Islamic law), who snatched ‘Aligarh’ from the Muslims, who were in favour of imposing Uniform Civil Code… who were against Waqf”.
‘Muslim appeasement’
“Our charge is that the Congress and their allies are indulging in Muslim appeasement… NGOs have been formed in many places,” Mr. Prasad said. In Jharkhand’s Lohardaga too, the same ploy is being adopted through another Muslim body, he claimed.
The BJP leader accused the Congress-led alliance of collaborating with all the most “narrow-minded” elements in Muslim communities who are against reforms such as the striking down of ‘triple talaq’. “Priyanka Gandhi is contesting the elections [Lok Sabha bypoll] in Wayanad and Jamaat-e-Islami is supporting her, as alleged by the Chief Minister [of Kerala],” he added.
“And when our Prime Minister talks about being united to be safe, they take objections to it and complain to the Election Commission. For them, ‘unity’ is a problem, while there is a concerted effort to take support of the forces that want to break the country… This is the truth of the Congress and its alliance,” Mr. Prasad said.
‘No quotas for Muslims’
On the issue of reservations, the BJP leader accused the Congress of planning to snatch the rights of poor people from other backward class (OBC) communities. “Any attempt to weaken or snatch away the rights of genuine OBCs to favour Muslim communities for vote bank will be opposed tooth and nail,” Mr. Prasad said.
He added: “Rahul Gandhi keeps talking about lifting the cap on reservation. The Congress should clarify whether the benefits of [Scheduled Castes] SCs will also be extended to the people from the Muslim communities. This is a crucial issue… because the SCs not only get reservation in government jobs, but also in the Lok Sabha,” he said, adding that the BJP would never allow any such attempt.
Citing a 1950 order, Mr. Prasad insisted that the benefits of reservation are available only to Hindus, with Buddhists and Sikhs being added later as they come under the wider ambit of Hindu society. Citing a Supreme Court judgment, he said that people who convert to another religion are not eligible for reservation benefits unless it is established that they are still suffering from the same disabilities as experienced when they were part of the Hindu society.
“This is the law of the country, and Rahul Gandhi is saying that reservation will be given to everyone?” Mr. Prasad. said.
Published – November 12, 2024 10:08 pm IST
