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Backward Muslims’ meet: Trust the BJP, we will reciprocate, says Maurya
An attempt was also made to allay apprehensions of the community over the ongoing madrasa survey, with people like Dr Iftekhar, who heads the Madrasa Shiksha Parishad, talking in detail about steps taken by the Yogi 2.0 government to better the madrasa education system in the state.
LUCKNOW: In yet another minority outreach initiative, deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya urged the community, especially the most backward or ‘Pasmanda Muslims’, to trust the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and support it.
An attempt was also made to allay apprehensions of the community over the ongoing madrasa survey, with people like Dr Iftekhar, who heads the Madrasa Shiksha Parishad, talking in detail about steps taken by the Yogi 2.0 government to better the madrasa education system in the state.
“We invite you to come closer. If you take two steps towards us, we will take ten. Only the BJP has truly cared for the welfare of the poor and backwards, cutting across caste, community or vote bank considerations,” Maurya said at a meet of ‘Pasmanda Muslims’ – the second such meeting in two days – in Lucknow on Tuesday.
Despite the opposition criticism of the madrasa survey as well as the one to tally revenue records of waqf properties in U.P, the BJP leaders clearly appeared enthused by the minority turnout at the Vishwesaraiyya auditorium in Lucknow.
“This turnout is sure to create ripples in the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party camp,” Maurya said and dared the SP and the BSP to prove if they had actually done anything for the Pasmanda Muslims.
“My friend Pasmandas, I assure you that we in the BJP will return your trust in us with interest,” he said while praising Javed Malik, the head of the Akhil Bharatiya Pasmanda Manch and senior party functionary from west U.P, for organizing the meeting.
Malik and minister of state Jaswant Saini, both said that the opposition parties mostly used to ‘trap’ the community into voting for them by showing them the “fear of the BJP.”
“You would have heard before that BJP rule will be detrimental to the Muslims. But, in reality, the really backward are now getting benefits of government schemes they never got earlier. The turnout of the community in such large numbers is proof that the approach towards the BJP is changing,” they said.
Malik who also felicitated 101 Pasmanda Muslims for their social outreach initiatives, said such dialogue and interactions between the community and the government would continue.
“Such meetings help us break the ice. The community has long been fed on anti-BJP campaign. In essence, the community is realizing that they actually got nothing, except promises. Treated as a vote bank and shown the fear of BJP, they were always misled. A similar misinformation campaign is underway on the twin surveys but the government has undertaken the exercise with a good intent,” Malik said.
Minister Danish Azad Ansari talked of the various efforts made by the Yogi government 2.0, including the decision to hold employment fairs, as proof of the government’s honest intentions.
