“This is the victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s effort to include all communities in India’s development journey”, BJP’s state spokesperson said.
New Delhi: Out Of the 6,671 councilors elected to local bodies in Madhya Pradesh last week, 92 were Muslims contesting on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket. According to party leaders, this was the first time that the saffron party awarded tickets to as many as 380 Muslims for local body polls in MP — compared to fewer than 50 in the last polls, held in 2014.
The wards in which the BJP triumphed were said to be a stronghold of the Congress. Defeating Hindu Congress candidates in at least 25 wards, Muslim candidates of the BJP also came second in 209 wards.
Compared to 2014 when the number was 400, this time around, the grand old party fielded 450 Muslim candidates, of whom 344 emerged victorious.
According to the 2011 census Muslims account for 6.57 percent of the population of the state.
“This was the fruit of a strategy to split the Muslim vote to achieve victory in Muslim-majority wards where the BJP could already count on the Hindu vote,” BJP leaders were quoted saying by the print.
“This is the victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s effort to include all communities in India’s development journey”, BJP’s state spokesperson said.
He further said, “Votes [by Muslims for the BJP] have shown faith in our policy of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas (everyone’s support, everyone’s development). Our Muslim candidates defeating the Congress’s Hindu candidates marks a significant shift in the state’s politics.”
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