BJP to launch minority outreach program

BJP Minority Morcha's national president Jamal Siddiqui said that the program is in tune with PM Modi's principles of 'nation first' and 'Saab Ka Sath, Sab Ka Vikash'.

New Delhi, Jan 25: On the advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to launch a nationwide 'minority outreach' program beginning from February 10. The PM's advice came at a meeting of the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) held here last week.

The local religious gurus, office-bearers of local traders' bodies and prominent people, who belong to the minority sections including Muslims, will be recruited by the BJP through its Minority Morcha to participate in the minority outreach program. The nationwide program, which is currently in the planning stage, would last for a total of four months.

The first-of-its-kind outreach program that the BJP is implementing is not only designed to win over voters for the party, but also to ensure that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's welfare and development schemes reach communities that have been historically marginalised.

During a media interview, BJP Minority Morcha's national president Jamal Siddiqui stated that the outreach program will include two significant activities, which he referred to as the "Scooter Yatra" and the "Sneh Yatra". "BJP will try to reach out to members of minority communities, such as the Pasmanda Muslims, through initiatives of this kind in order to give them the impression that the Modi government is not ignoring them in regard to upcoming changes," he said.

The outreach is primarily intended to spread the message that "nation first" and "Saab Ka Sath, Sab Ka Vikash" are the guiding principles of the Prime Minister, Siddiqui added. It has been decided that there are a significant number of people belonging to marginalised and minority communities living in a total of 106 different Lok Sabha constituencies.

"The Minority Morcha of the BJP will carry on the outreach program across 60 Lok Sabha constituencies that have a minority population of above 25 to 80%," Siddiqui said, "The outreach program will be carried out through local religious mentors, the office-bearers of local traders, and other prominent social people belonging to minority communities."

"Within the scope of the proposed outreach program are 13 minority-dominated constituencies drawn from both Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. During the Minority Mocha's national executive meeting, which will take place in Chhattisgarh on coming February 1 and 2, other activities of the minority outreach program will be discussed and a final decision will be taken regarding their implementation," Siddiqui said.