Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Sunday termed the BJP a true well-wisher of Muslims while alleging that secularists used them as a vote bank and did not give them their due rights.
Pathak said this while addressing a meeting of Pasmanda Muslims organized by the BJP Minority Morcha.
"So-called secular parties used Muslims only as a vote bank. These parties came in power by taking the votes of Muslims but they never got their rights. This is the reason why Muslims are so backward today," he said.
The BJP is a "true well-wisher" of Muslims and it is making meaningful efforts to bring them to the mainstream, he claimed. "For this, the government is running many schemes, which are benefiting Muslim society," he added.
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The state’s Minority Welfare Minister Danish Azad Ansari said if there is any party that seriously thinks of Muslims, it is the BJP.
"The way BJP is worrying about education, security, and progress of Muslims, no other party has done it before," he claimed.
Ansari said one of the biggest reasons for the backwardness of Muslims is that they were never allowed to get quality education.
BJP governments under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have paid special attention to providing quality education to them, he said.
BJP’s Rajya Sabha member Ghulam Ali said it is necessary for the Muslim community to move ahead by taking full advantage of the schemes being run by the government.
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He said other parties have so far done nothing but serve their political interests by showing them the fear of the BJP. What is needed now is that Muslims understand who is working for their good and who has used them till now, he said.
(Inputs from PTI)
