M J Akbar urges minorities to join development bandwagon under NDA

Patna, May 6: Observing that

prime ministerial candidate

has stressed on job creation, economic growth and governance in campaigning for general elections, party national spokesman M J Akbar on Tuesday urged the minorities to join the new development phase to be ushered in by the

if it came to power.

"Issues like jobs, economic growth and governance have been the core issues in Modi's agenda before and after the announcement of general elections... he has consistently harped on development for benefit of all sections of society," Akbar, a noted journalist, told reporters.

Akbar appealed to the minorities to get out of their mindset of fear and apprehension and join the development bandwagon, saying the Muslims, particularly its youths, too will benefit. Akbar, who recently joined the BJP, asked the minorities to trust the Gujarat Chief Minister who advised both Hindus and Muslims to fight together poverty and hunger, and not among themselves.

He was referring to 'Hunkar Rally' in Patna on October 27 last in which Modi had called upon the Hindus and Muslims to not fight among themselves, but join forces to unitedly fight hunger and poverty.

"The Muslims should appreciate Modi for his stand to bring the two communities together on development agendas and consider joining development bandwagon for their own good and that of the country as they too have a right to get jobs, education and prosperity," Akbar, an ex-MP from Kishanganj, said.

He said that the UPA government generated only 1.75 to 2 crore jobs during its 10 years' rule that can be described as a decade of jobless economy even as the economic growth too plummetted to under five per cent against 8.5 per cent a decade earlier.

Claiming that thousands of people had turned admirers of Modi and his model of development, he pitched for extension of the Gujarat Model to other parts.

PTI