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Misinterpreted: BJP MP on 'party won't get Muslim votes in UP polls' remark
During a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj on Wednesday, BJP MP Subrat Pathak said that the BJP won't get Muslim votes in the upcoming assembly elections as it revoked Article 370, and built temples in Ayodhya and Kashi and will build one in Mathura too.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and party's Kashi in-charge Subrat Pathak on Thursday clarified his earlier statement that Muslims won't vote for them in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls, saying that it was “misinterpreted". He said his statement meant those who want to vote for the party will do so, as the party does not discriminate among people when it comes to developmental works, adding that the BJP doesn't want votes of individuals who back terrorism and wish to implement Sharia Law in India.
The clarification comes following Pathak's remarks during a public rally in Kannauj in the poll-bound northern state where he said that the BJP may not get Muslim votes despite showing no discrimination in developmental works as it has scrapped Article 370, “built temples in Ayodhya and Kashi and will build [one] in Mathura [as well],” according to news agency ANI.
During the rally, the BJP MP said that the party didn't ask for an individual's “religion” while allocating houses or even “caste” while constructing toilets. “If 100 houses have been allotted, 30 will be allotted to the Muslims,” he added.
In his clarification, Pathak said that his comments were in reply to one of his Muslim friends who told him that the BJP won't get votes in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections because of revoking Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, and building temples in Ayodhya and Kashi.
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“I replied that…one who does not want to vote for us, cannot. But we cannot abandon our beliefs,” Pathak said on Thursday.
Besides not wanting votes of people who support terrorism and want to implement Sharia Law in the country, the BJP doesn't want votes of people who raise pro-Pakistan slogans, Pathak further stated. “We are not asking for their votes either, I had said this,” he said.
This development comes after Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday held a two-hour meeting in Varanasi with the BJP's office bearers in Kashi and Gorakhpur, Hindustan Times reported.
During the meeting, Shah directed the BJP leaders to form a list of projections of the party's performance on each seat in Kashi and Gorakhpur. He also asked them to keep “Kashi and Ayodhya” in the centre during their campaign rallies. Pathak was one of the BJP leaders present at the meeting.
Uttar Pradesh is slated to go into elections next year in which the BJP is aiming for a second consecutive victory. In the last polls in 2017, the saffron party almost had a clean sweep by bagging 312 of the total 403 seats. The Samajwadi Party (SP) won 47 seats while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won 19. The Congress was able to win only seven seats, while the remaining ones were bagged by other candidates.
