New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not targeting the Muslim community with his ‘mangalsutra‘ jibes but exposing the true colours of the Congress, which plans to take away private wealth and hand it over to Muslims, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Manoj Tiwari has said.
Tiwari is contesting the North East Delhi Lok Sabha seat for a third term and is pitted against the Congress’s Kanhaiya Kumar, who, as the INDIA bloc candidate, has the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP’s) support.
Of late, Modi has attacked the Congress at election rallies, alleging that the party would take away ‘mangalsutras’ and gold, only to redistribute these among “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”.
Asked about this, Tiwari said, “The PM is not targeting Muslims but the hatred-spreading ideology of the Congress.”
“If the Congress is saying it will conduct an ‘X-ray’ and redistribute the wealth of the country among the Muslims in India, there is a need to highlight what its intention is,” he said. He was referring to Rahul Gandhi’s comments on conducting a caste census — an “X-ray” — before redistributing wealth to “90 percent of the population”.
Tiwari added: “For the Congress, minority means Muslims. Just see the statements by former PM Manmohan Singh, who said Muslims have the first claim over resources. The Congress has made the Muslims a vote bank but did nothing for their development.”
The BJP MP was referring to Singh’s 2006 comment on prioritising “programmes for the upliftment of SC/STs, other backward classes, minorities and women and children”. “We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably in the fruits of development. They must have the first claim on resources,” he had said at the time, with the PMO later clarifying that “they” referred to the programmes for the upliftment of all minorities.
Defending his position, Tiwari further said, “If we raise the issue that you are trying to create riots, we aren’t targeting Muslims, rather making them aware. Who has the audacity to take someone’s property and give it to someone else? That means you are trying to create a civil war.”
Tiwari further said the BJP would win not only the 2024 Lok Sabha elections but also the 2025 Delhi assembly elections. “With PM Modi at the Centre, a BJP government at the state level will be able to resolve most of Delhi’s problems in one term alone,” he said.
Tiwari first won the North East Delhi seat, which has a sizeable Muslim population, in 2014 by securing 45.38 percent of votes, followed by Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Anand Kumar. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Tiwari won against former chief minister Sheila Dikshit by securing 53.86 percent of the votes, while the Congress came second and the AAP third.
‘Corrupt’ leaders like Kejriwal can’t get sympathy
Tiwari also targeted jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying, “Corrupt (leaders) like Kejriwal can’t get any sympathy. The option of applying for bail is always there. But getting bail does not mean you are free from the charges against you.”
The BJP has been trying to corner AAP, a party whose poll plank has been clean governance, on the corruption charges brought against Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the 2021-22 Delhi excise policy case.
Dismissing the allegations against the BJP of “misusing” the ED and the CBI to target opposition leaders, Tiwari said, “The BJP is a political party. We raise issues related to corruption, and the court takes a decision later.”
“The BJP has numerous examples of leaders who resigned merely after being accused of something. Why is such morality not present in others? L.K. Advani gave his resignation over (the Jain hawala) diary ‘kaand‘; Madan Lal Khurana had resigned. Why are examples of (leaders) taking the moral (high) ground found in the BJP only?” Tiwari asked, stressing that many BJP ministers lost their positions after being accused in cases, which they then fought.
Also read: Sympathy wave or seeds of doubt? Kejriwal’s arrest dominates AAP vs BJP showdown in Delhi
“Kanhaiya Kumar raised anti-national slogans”
Tiwari also attacked his opponent, former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, saying, “Our youth of India can’t be in favour of the ‘tukde tukde‘ gang.”
In 2016, when JNU students organised a protest, questioning the 2013 capital punishment of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, they were branded the ‘tukde tukde‘ gang, a term since used by the BJP against several of their political opponents.
“The youth of India is for strengthening the nation, not weakening it. The youth of India are not for promoting terrorism and terrorists but for strengthening the nation,” Tiwari said, pointing out that the ‘tukde-tukde’ gang wants to split the nation.
“Earlier, the nation was split. Pakistan was formed. Bangladesh was formed. Slogans of ‘Bharat tere tukde honge, inshallah‘ were raised on the JNU campus, and the person who raised them is contesting the elections,” he said.
After the 2016 protests, the Delhi Police alleged that Kanhaiya Kumar raised “anti-national slogans” and arrested him on sedition charges. Kumar, however, received bail, with a Delhi High Court judge noting there was no recording of him raising anti-national slogans. The matter is still sub judice.
“The judicial system is a little slow in India. There are many cases. But, he (Kumar) will be given punishment, for sure,” Tiwari said. “I don’t think any youth of India or an Indian who loves India will support someone who believes in the ‘tukde tukde‘ ideology.”
Tiwari said those who generally vote against the BJP will now vote for the party because Kumar, who has such an “antagonistic personality”, is the alternative.
Asked why the party has been out of power in Delhi, the BJP MP said, “Kejriwal came and made such lofty promises that people got swayed and voted for him. But people have realised that Delhi can develop under the BJP.”
AAP, which contested its first election in 2013, has won the Delhi assembly elections with a decisive majority twice — first in 2015 by winning 67 of 70 assembly seats, and then in 2020 by winning 62 seats. It went on to sweep Punjab in 2022, winning 92 of 117 assembly seats. The party also won the Delhi municipal elections last year.
“Now, the Congress and AAP are in an alliance. When they go to seek votes from the public, people will surely ask what they did for the past two decades. Once Modi ji is the PM, we will have a BJP majority government in Delhi, and Delhi’s problems will be resolved in one term alone,” he said.
When asked whether not having a CM face, such as Kejriwal in AAP, will hamper the BJP’s prospects in Delhi, Tiwari said, “Any of our workers can become the CM as it has happened in many states.”
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also read: Delhi L-G recommends NIA probe against Kejriwal over allegation of $16mn funding from ‘Khalistani groups’