In Goa, communalism accusation only worry for BJP

The accusation of being communal is the "only worry" for the BJP in Goa, and the party will still win both the Lok Sabha seats in the state, BJP spokesperson Pramod Sawant said Thursday.

Sawant told reporters after the party's seat election management committee meeting that the accusations levelled against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) about being communal were false, and that voters would look beyond it.

Asked which were the critical issues the BJP needed to look into ahead of poll day, April 12, he said: "There are false accusations about communalism. But people will see through it."

The BJP has been in a tizzy after Deputy Chief Minister Francis D'Souza, one of the party's senior most Christian legislators, said at a press conference that minorities have apprehensions against Narendra Modi becoming prime minister and will continue to harbour these in future.

"Minorities will have an apprehension. It will always be there," D'Souza said in response to queries if minority communities would accept Modi, who has been accused of hardline right-wing politics.

D'Souza has been with the BJP for more than a decade.

He was one of the few party leaders who expressed apprehension after Modi was nominated the party's campaign chief during the national executive held in Goa last year.

D'Souza's comments, coupled with a "vote for secular" directive to the 27 percent Christian population in Goa issued by the Church, has come as a shock for the BJP, which until recently was confident of winning over the crucial Christian vote in Goa.

However, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has been shying from answering queries about Modi and whether the BJP in Goa has been unable to convince the Christian electorate to vote in favour of the Gujarat chief minister.

"There is no apprehension among the minorities," Parrikar said, even as he refused to comment on his deputy's statement.