Union Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah criticised the Opposition INDIA bloc for declining the Ayodhya Ram Mandir Pran Pratistha ceremony invite. He alleged that the INDIA bloc refused to attend the Pran Pratistha ceremony of Ram Lalla because “the Muslim vote bank will be upset”.
Reiterating a term often used by Prime Minister and BJP leader Narendra Modi to desecrate the INDIA bloc, Amit Shah, in an interview with ANI, addressed the Opposition coalition as “Ghamandiya Alliance” and alleged that the leaders have “no issues celebrating Eid with Muslim brothers, despite being Hindus”.
“The entire Ghamandiya alliance (INDI Alliance) boycotted the Ram Mandir Pran Prathishta ceremony – My clear allegation is that they did this fearing their minority vote bank,” Amit Shah told ANI, harping on the much used ‘minority vote bank’ allegations levelled against INDIA bloc by the saffron camp amid the Lok Sabha Elections.
“…On Eid, you have no issues spending celebrating Eid with Muslim brothers, even though you aren’t Muslim. Still, despite being Hindu, you won’t attend the Ram Mandir Pran Prathistha because your Muslim vote bank will be upset…what kind of politics is this?” Amit Shah added.
The Ayodhya Ram Mandir Pran Pratistha ceremony was held on January 22 this year.
Notably, when Narendra Modi assumed power in 2014, the outgoing parliament had 30 Muslim lawmakers — and just one was a member of the BJP. Muslims now hold 25 out of 543 seats, and none belong to the BJP.
According to available data, in the mid-1980s, Muslims accounted for 11% of India’s population, and had 9% of seats in parliament. In 2024 Muslim community forms14% of India’s population and have less than 5% of seats in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Meanwhile, Amit Shah on Wednesday referred to protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and said “PoK is part of India and we will take it”.
Addressing a rally in Serampore, Shah said while peace has returned to once trouble-torn Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir “now echoes with slogans of Azadi and protests.
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Published: 15 May 2024, 04:45 PM IST