"Politics Of Religion-Based Vote Bank Has No Relevance": Jitendra Singh

Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said that "politics of religion-based vote bank" has no relevance in the country, and the only religion for the BJP is "development and development alone".

Accusing the Congress of spreading false propaganda among the minority communities, particularly Muslims, "to poison their minds" against the BJP, he said that the opposition party always exploited the minorities as a vulnerable vote bank and played with their sentiments, but was never sincere to them.

Mr Singh, who is a Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, said that in this Assembly election, those from the minority communities who were misled by the Congress party and AIUDF last time in Assam will vote for the BJP dispensation.

"A message is destined to go out loud and clear across the country that under Prime Minister Modi, the politics of religion-based vote bank has no relevance and the only religion for the BJP is development and development alone," he told PTI.

A total of 39 and 40 constituencies will go to polls on April 1 and 6, respectively. Voting for the first phase of polls in 47 of the 126 seats in Assam was held on March 27.

The minister held a series of public rallies in minority community-dominated Assembly constituencies of Baghbor and Jania.

He alleged that right from the time of independence, the Congress developed its strategy of exploiting the sentiments of minority communities in a bid to secure the maximum share of their vote.

"However, with time, this strategy was meeting the fate of diminishing returns because now the people are much more awakened and the majority of the voters comprised the third generation of post-independence youths who reason out their preference before casting their votes," said Mr Singh, the BJP''s co-in-charge for Assam.

He asked why the Congress party, in 65 years of rule both at the Centre and the state, did not think of bringing about reforms like the law against triple talaq "for the benefit of Muslim sisters".

"Had the gas cylinder sent by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under Ujjawala scheme ever discriminated on the basis of religion or caste and was it ever enquired whether the household where the free gas cylinder was being delivered was a Muslim household or a Hindu household?" Singh asked.

Some of the largest bridges of the country had been launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the state of Assam "but was there ever any condition laid down that the bridge can be used only by a particular community and not by other communities", he said.

"It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has sought to introduce a new political culture based on justice and requirements of the last man in the last queue, regardless of his religion or faith. The BJP is following the mantra of ''justice for all, appeasement of none," Singh said.