PM Narendra Modi was alleged to have used the example of Bohra Muslims who have not opposed the BJP despite not being registered voters.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) outreach to minorities, particularly Muslims, is intended to reinforce the Union government’s commitment to ensuring equal representation in all social welfare programs, which can help counter the consolidation of the minority community as an anti-BJP force.
The BJP’s central leadership has directed its cadre to highlight the participation of Muslims in social welfare initiatives to demonstrate that there is no discrepancy based on religion and to erase the perception of the party’s alleged intolerance towards the faith.
“The fact that Muslims have been benefactors of social welfare initiatives blows holes in the opposition’s accusations of the BJP being an anti-Muslim party. “For a long time, the opposition has instilled fear in the minority community about the BJP and its philosophy, which has resulted in the minority community voting as a bloc against the BJP,” a party functionary explained.
The BJP wants to ensure that even if the community does not vote for them, they are not utilized as a vote bank against them. “They can vote for whichever party they like, but their choice should not be influenced by distaste or hatred towards the BJP,” added the functionary.
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At the party’s national executive committee meeting in Hyderabad last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed party leaders to reach out to economically and socially backward Muslims known as ‘Pasmanda’ to shift the narrative about the party’s supposed anti-minority stance.
This year, he said that the outreach should not be done with an eye on electoral politics but rather to develop ties with community members opposed to radicalism and rigidity.
According to reports, the PM used the example of Bohra Muslims who have not been opposed to the BJP despite not being included as voters.
Beginning February 10, the BJP’s minority morcha’ will launch an outreach program in which party leaders meet with 5,000 people from 60 Lok Sabha constituencies.
