BJP trying to woo Muslims, projecting Narendra Modi as face of development

NEW DELHI: The past month has seen several very nuanced changes in the way the Bharatiya Janata Party, especially the way its top leaders Narendra Modi and Rajnath Singh, have tried to reach out to the Muslims, an ongoing process which is titled "Muslims for Modi, Modi for Muslims". The programme, which the party's senior Muslim face Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi calls "an ongoing conversation" with the community, is stitched together by the RSS with political participation by Muslims at all levels in the party.

In his last rally in Bihar, Modi had quoted extensively from the Sachar committee report on the socio-economic status of the Muslims, a report which the party had distanced itself from when it first came out, till it discovered that it was actually favourable to the Gujarat government's record on inclusion.

Party president Rajnath Singh too spoke of "asking for forgiveness" from the community if they felt wronged by the BJP in any way.

"The attempt here is to make Modiji appear as a face of development rather than fear," said Naqvi.

According to a study done by the party, the top priority of the community is said to be a sense of security and employment, issues which the party aims to tackle. "We will move away from the typical issues which the Congress and so-called secular parties have been talking about, like the Hajj subsidy and Waqf property," said Naqvi.

A senior member in the RSS said that there were nearly 3 lakh polling booths in Muslim-dominated areas where it is drawing upon local youths to man them. "These are booths where BJP would not even send a single representative, but this time we are working with younger members of the community and making them participate in the BJP's political fortunes," said a senior RSS office bearer.

Will defeat Modi in Varanasi: Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday vowed to defeat BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha election in Varanasi. "I was reading in some newspapers that it will be a symbolic fight (in Varanasi) and it is Modi who will win," Kejriwal told a meting of Muslims from across the country here. "I want to tell him (Modi) that I am going (to Varanasi) not only to fight but I am going to defeat him," he said.