‘Those hiding behind mask of secularism threat to India’: PM Modi

Prime Minister Modi said that people who “hide behind the mask of secularism” are the biggest threat to India even as he called Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati’s appeal to Muslim voters “a means to survive in politics”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that people who “hide behind the mask of secularism” are the biggest threat to India even as he called Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati’s appeal to Muslim voters “a means to survive in politics”. At the Uttar Pradesh opposition alliance’s first joint rally on Sunday, the BSP chief appealed to Muslims to vote for the SP-BSP-RLD combine in the upcoming general elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election rally, ahead of Lok Sabha polls, at Chitradurga, Tuesday, April 09, 2019. (PTI file photo)

She said the Congress was out to divide votes in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha.

“It is unsurprising that Mayawati is making such statements as she is facing defeat. She is appealing to Muslims to specifically vote for her. This is a matter for the Election Commission to look into,” the Prime Minister said in an interview to CNN-News18.

“Had someone made such an appeal to Hindus, they would have expressed outrage... The biggest threat to India are these people who hide behind the mask of secularism,” he added.