Statements by Shiladitya Deb irk State minority leaders

GUWAHAT: In the run-up to the panchayat poll in Assam, the State BJP is worried over support from minority voters even as the party’s National Minority Morcha president Abdul Rashid Ansari has said that the minorities of the country have developed after the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi coming to power at the Centre.

The State BJP is now busy in controlling the damage that has been done by some comments on NRC and the issue of citizenship from some of its leaders in the State.

The Minority Morcha of the State BJP had its executive meeting in Guwahati on Tuesday. The statements made by the party’s Hojai MLA Shiladitya Deb on NRC and citizenship issues were discussed at the meeting. BJP’s National Minority Morcha president Abdul Rashid Ansari was also present at the meeting. Most of the leaders of the Morcha expressed their resentment over the statements made by the MLA.

Toufique Rahman, the vice president of the State BJP, said: “The percentage of minorities in Assam is 36 i.e. a population of 1.20 crore. If anyone in the party insults these 1.20 crore minority population in the State, I won’t tolerate it. I’m ready to quit the party in such matters.”

Assam Minority Development Board (AMDB) chairman Muminul Aowal said: “MLA Shiladitya Deb needs to restrain himself while making statements. He should stay away from making statements that may create uneasy ambience in the party. The party leadership should act against him.”

Meanwhile, addressing the media in Guwahati on Wednesday, Ansari said: “The minorities in India have seen the light of development after the BJP led by Narendra Modi coming to power at New Delhi. This has happened after 70 years of independence of the country. Allocation of funds for the development of minorities in the country has witnessed a four-fold increase. The development is visible on economic and educational fronts.”

On the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, Ansari said: “Bill is yet to be discussed in the Lok Sabha. Only after discussion on the Bill, it will come clear if the Bill is to be passed or cancelled.”

Ansari claimed that the minorities of Assam would vote for the BJP in the forthcoming panchayat poll.

The meeting of the Morcha held on Tuesday took three important resolutions. One of the resolutions says that the Morcha is going to divide the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies of the State into five different zones each with a committee. The meeting decided to hold public meetings in all the five zones in the run-up to the panchayat poll.

The minority leaders said that the State BJP has seven lakh active minority leaders. Minority voters in the State can decide the fate of around 1,000 panchayat constituencies in the State.

Also Read: Guwahati News