15. BJP bid to woo Muslims

ALIGARH, October 15 - The BJP today kicked off its pre-election campaign to woo Muslim voters by promising to provide a �riot-free India in which human rights of all sections would be protected�.

Addressing the first state convention of the newly-formed minority front of the BJP, former national president of the party Murli Manohar Joshi urged Muslims to take a �fresh look� at the BJP, if they wished to escape from the clutches of the Congress, which he alleged had been �exploiting them over the past several decades�.

The proceedings of the convention began with a recitation from the holy Quran. Mr. Joshi said the British had sown the seeds of a �minority complex� in the minds of the Muslims. Later the Congress had exploited this �complex� by whipping up a �fear psychosis� against the BJP, he alleged.

Mr. Joshi said the history of India was replete with instances which clearly indicated that Muslims had always been �an integral part of the national mainstream�. �They have now only to be made conscious of their genuine role in this mainstream,� he added.*

Mr. Joshi and other senior BJP leaders, including former chief minister Kalyan Singh, state BJP president Kalraj Mishra and party�s national secretary Arif Baig, stressed that the BJP was now offering a more liberal form of hindutva as its main election plank. They also claimed that the BJP�s economic policies would �protect the economic interests of the weaker sections of society including minorities�.

Mr. Baig, who is also the national president of the BJP�s minority front, announced that in the next few months similar conventions would be held all over the country.

Though well-attended, the percentage of various minority communities among the participants was �much below� the expectations of the organisers. A local Muslim leader felt: �By making such a move, the BJP may not be able to actually fetch Muslim votes, but it could certainly succeed in blunting the �anti-BJP� image amongst Muslims.�
 

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