the goan I network
PANAJI
Development will be the sole focus of the Modi government for its 2019 election campaign, the BJP stated on Sunday insisting that the Ram Mandir and Hindutva was not on the Party’s agenda for next year’s Lok Sabha elections.
Stressing that there was no need for minorities to worry under BJP rule, Union Minister for Minority Affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, addressing a press conference on Sunday said, “The incidents of communal violence during BJP rule have been isolated incidents.” He said the discourse surrounding the safety of minorities, a topic that has been abuzz on social media since the Modi-government took over, was simply the result of political forces trying to disrupt the development efforts by the BJP.
“Minorities in India are more safe than in any other democracy,” Naqvi stated, while also saying that other parties helped minority communities in order to get votes, which was not something the BJP would do. “The BJP aims at development with dignity and without discrimination,” Naqvi reiterated.
Elaborating on the work that the current government has done for minorities, Naqvi said that 2 crore 66 lakh scholarships had been given to students from minority communities over the past four years. From these, more than 50% of the beneficiaries were girls. While the school drop-out rate for girls had come down to 42% from 72% under this government, the government was striving to bring this figure down to 0% in the next 2 years.
Naqvi went on to talk about the Haj Subsidy that Muslim pilgrims used to receive before 2014 that was taken away, but is now being used for educational empowerment instead. Nevertheless, 1,75,000 Muslims would be going for Haj in 2018.
When asked why it seemed like the government was putting up a “one-man show” with only PM Narendra Modi’s face on BJP banners, ads, and promotional videos, and whether this was right in a democracy, Naqvi said, “He is our leader. It is not possible to name all the MPs together.” He said that the names of all MPs were present by default because they were part of the government, even though they were not actually mentioned.
Continuing on the topic, Naqvi said it was in this way that effective leadership was undertaken and that having only Modi’s face at the forefont of things led to no confusion, either within the party or amongst the voters.
“While the BJP’s face for the 2019 election campaign will be Narendra Modi, other parties will have numerous names brought forward for PM. However, anti-Modi alliances need to know that there is no vacancy for the post of PM in 2019.”
When asked about what the Center intended to do about the mining issue in Goa, Naqvi said that the state unit of the party was “concerned” about the issue and that they were taking it up with “appropriate authorities.” Referring to other challenges that the government was facing like the high rate of fuel and the farmers agitations across the country, Naqvi said that these were challenges that the government was facing despite its best efforts, and that it would do everything in its power to solve.
