Congress-led alliance conspiring with divisive elements in Muslim communities for electoral gains, alleges BJP

BJP accuses Congress of colluding with conservative Muslim elements for electoral gain, sparking controversy and allegations of Muslim appeasement.

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”.

“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.

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.