(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Srinagar- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged the Muslims to introspect what benefits Congress has given to them during their 70-year rule and reiterated that religion cannot be the basis for providing reservation.In an interview to Times Now, PM Modi asked the educated lot of the Muslim community to introspect and think that the country is moving ahead and you feel your community is lagging behind, what is the reason for that.
ADVERTISEMENT“Why you people didn't the benefit of government schemes during the Congress rule. Have been the victim of predicament during the Congress rule, introspect and think,” he said.
He, however, reiterated that religion cannot be the basis for providing reservations as it goes against the Constitution.
PM Modi said that the poor in the country include all Hindus, Christians, and Parsis and all should get the benefits of reservations.
Read Also Choose Between 'Vote Jihad' & 'Ram Rajya': PM Modi No Force Can Stop Free Ration Delivery To Poor: PM “I have never said that Muslims won't get reservations. All I'm saying is that religion cannot be the basis of providing reservation. Poor in the country include all Hindus, Christians, and Parsis; all should get the benefits of reservations. Dalits and tribals for long have faced injustice for thousands of years, and there is a special reason that the makers of our constitution have taken the right decision, and we are grateful for that. No political party opposes this,” the PM said.
'Minorities Have Equally Benefited From Welfare Schemes'
Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said the minorities have equally benefited from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's welfare schemes.
Addressing an election meeting at Uluberia Lok Sabha constituency, which has a considerable population of minority voters, he said that over the years a number of misgivings have been sought to be created by the Congress about the BJP.
“These are all motivated by the mischievous intention of the Congress leadership to keep the people away from the BJP and to manage their vote bank through divisive politics by provoking one religion against the other and by instigating the minority communities against the BJP by giving them the impression that BJP follows an anti-minority agenda, which was, however, far from truth,” Singh said.
In the last 10 years, he said, Prime Minister Modi not only gave the country a decisive government but also brought in a series of reforms which were aimed at improving the lot of the minority communities.
“Common masses have now realised that Prime Minister Modi-led dispensation believes in providing justice to every needy person and to provide what is required regardless of any consideration of caste, creed or religion,” said Singh, the minister of state for personnel.
He said there are a number of evidences to substantiate that while the Congress had always played the“minority card” but it did nothing to improve their lot, whereas it is the Modi government, which not only gave due attention to these communities but also provided equitable benefits of welfare schemes like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana for pucca houses, Ujjawala scheme for providing gas cylinders and household toilets for all without any discrimination on the basis of religion.
Singh appealed to the BJP karyakartas to make a conscious outreach to the members of the minority community and engage them in dialogue on the basis of facts and figures, and at the same time, also call the bluff of the Congress' propaganda.
Voting in Uluberia is scheduled to be held under the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 20.
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