BJP leaders turn spotlight on Muslims after Lok Sabha verdict  

Suvendu Adhikari trashes ‘sabka saath sabka vikas’ slogan

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, July 17: Within days of the Lok Sabha verdict, Janata Dal (United) leader Devesh Chandra Thakur spoke of his resolve to not work for Muslims and Yadavs as they didn’t vote for him. Union Minister Giriraj Singh almost gave his moral support to Thakur.

West Bengal Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday on his own amended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inclusive slogan of ‘sabka sath, sabka vikas’. Adhikari set conditions to the support of the BJP for classes, giving the slogan “jo hamare saath, hum unke saath”

The prime minister’s slogan, spoken from the ramparts of the Red Fort, meant the support of all sections of the society and also their development. Adhikari amended the slogan by stating that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be with those who support the party.

Also Read: Finding Niti in Niti Aayog 

Thakur had also given voice to the similar sentiment. “The Muslims and the Yadav don’t vote for me. Why should I work for them,” Thakur had said after the Lok Sabha verdict, while speaking at a public meeting in Sitamarhi in Bihar.

On his visit to Jharkhand, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma termed the “rising population of Muslims in the state as an existential threat”. “The Muslims in Assam were 12 per cent in 1951. They are now 40 per cent in Assam. It’s a matter if life and death for us now,” Sarma told reporters on Wednesday.

Adhikari has been quoted by the Kolkata-based media, saying that there was no need for a minority morcha within the BJP. The West Bengal leader sharpened his assertion against inclusive slogans given by the prime minister in his first term.

Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah, while speaking in Mahendragarh in Haryana, once more raised the concerns that the Congress, if voted to power in the state, can give reservations to Muslims.

Also Read: Amit Shah locks horns with Hooda over achievements in Haryana 

Shah’s public meeting in mahendragarh was the first major even after the Lok Sabha verdict. Shah’s stress on Muslim reservation pitch highlighted that the BJP still stays on course set by the prime minister for negative campaign against the Congress over the ‘Muslim appeasement” plank.

Adhikari and Sarma are frontline BJP leaders. Both are known to be close confidantes of Shah. Their assertions on Muslims are being seen in political circles as part of the BJP’s calculated strategy.

While Modi had sought a Hindu vote base polarisation by raising the “Muslim appeasement’ bogey against the Congress, the BJP had ended up with losses as there was a counter Muslim polarisation across the country.

The political commentators have attributed to the sharp Muslim polarisation in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Telangana contributed to the BJP not crossing the half way mark in the Lok Sabha.

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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