Cong used minorities as commodity, exploited sentiments: Jitendra Singh

Union minister Jitendra Singh on Monday accused the Congress of seeking votes through communal polarisation by instigating one religion against the other and inducing unwarranted fear in the minds of the minority community.

He said, it was only during the last seven years that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government had the conviction and sincerity to bring about some revolutionary reforms for the minorities, including the Triple Talaq law.

Congress party had, since independence, used the minorities as a commodity and exploited their sentiments for vote bank politics, said Singh, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office.

He said the Congress-AIUDF (All India United Democratic Front) alliance in Assam has virtually outsourced its campaign to communal elements, and its leaders are using such tone and expression in electioneering which stands to induce poison in the society and rake up one religious community against the other.

Singh said a dangerous phenomenon is being witnessed in the Assam election and the BJP is determined to thwart this evil design.

A total of 39 and 40 constituencies will go to polls on April 1 and April 6, respectively. Voting for the first phase of polls in 47 of the total 126 seats in Assam was held on March 27.

Singh said the BJP is asking for votes neither in the name of Hindu nor Muslim, but appealing for Hindu-Muslim votes based on the principle of equitable development and opportunity for all sections of society, regardless of caste, creed or religion.

Many minority community leaders from Congress and AIUDF have quit these parties and joined the BJP. This should be an eye-opener for the community that they represent, he said.

He also addressed a rally in Dhubri assembly constituency in Assam, which comprises nearly 65 per cent of minority population.

Dhubri is now determined to introduce a new political culture based not on communal or religious considerations, but purely on development and performance, Singh said.

For the first time after many years, he said, the BJP candidate is going to get elected from here with the equal support of minority community votes, and this is going to send a signal across the country of a new political approach based on Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas.

The minister appealed, particularly to the youth voters, to break the jinx of votes being cast along religious lines and open a new chapter of Hindu-Muslim vote in support of development and growth.

He added that the minorities have realised that falsehood being spread by Congress leaders and Badruddin Ajmal of AIUDF about the BJP is far from truth and it is only the BJP that stands against communalisation for vote bank politics.