The Hindu : Attempt to divide people: Cong.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 21, 2002

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Attempt to divide people: Cong.
By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 20. From disbelief and downright condemnation to a demand for his disenfranchisement, the political reactions to the reported statement of the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, that the Bharatiya Janata Party could win the elections to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly even without Muslim support were extremely sharp. Mr. Vajpayee made the statement during his campaigning in Varanasi on Tuesday.

The Samajwadi Party demanded that the President, K. R. Narayanan, dismiss the Prime Minister and conveyed the demand in a letter to Mr. Narayanan. In another letter to the Election Commission, the SP asked the Commission to consider Mr. Vajpayee's disenfranchisement.

The former Prime Minister, V.P. Singh, said that at the very least, Mr. Vajpayee's remarks were in ``bad taste'' and ``most unbecoming of the Prime Minister.'' The principal opposition party, Congress, said it was not only ``highly objectionable'' but ``fraught with dangerous consequences'' when the Prime Minister of the country blatantly suggested that he was the leader of only the BJP and that the biggest minority was a ``dispensable political commodity.''

Only the Vishwa Hindu Parishad welcomed Mr. Vajpayee's reported comment. Praveen Togadia, VHP general secretary, is reported to have said that the Muslim support was not necessary to come to power - the present NDA government had amply demonstrated that.

As for the Muslim leaders, Mr. Vajpayee's statement ``did not come as a surprise.'' Said Syed Shahbuddin, member, All-India Muslim Personal Law Board: ``It is not the first time that Mr. Vajpayee has spoken as the Prime Minister of Hindus only. Even during his trip to the United States, he used the VHP platform to project himself as a representative of Hindus. As for his claim that the BJP has done a lot for the minorities, I would only point out that it has one Muslim MP in the Lok Sabha and it fielded one Muslim candidate in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.'' No political party could hope to achieve power without the support of a minority as large as the Muslims.

Jaipal Reddy, Congress spokesperson, said the Prime Minister's statement had disturbing overtones. It was not only dangerous but was ``an attempt to divide the people and polarise votes along communal lines.'' Such ``cheap and immoral'' tactics ```cannot be permitted to be adopted by the Prime Minister.''

The SP spokesperson, Amar Singh, said ``the Prime Minister does not belong to either Hindus or Muslims, neither to the BJP nor the VHP, he is the Prime Minister of India.'' He seemed to have forgotten that, Mr. Singh alleged. The party chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav, had written to Mr. Narayanan saying Mr. Vajpayee's statement not only violated the code of conduct but could ``disintegrate the country.''

The CPI(M) politburo member, Prakash Karat, said it was shocking that Mr. Vajpayee had made such a remark, which clearly betrayed the ``communal bias.''

The Prime Minister's remarks displayed both ``despair and frustration'' as the BJP was facing a dismal performance in Uttar Pradesh, the CPI national secretary, D. Raja, said. The statement also appeared to be a `veiled warning' to the Muslims. ``Instead of understanding that the minorities feel threatened due to the aggressive stand taken by the VHP and the Sangh Parivar, the Prime Minister has been raking up other issues from time to time like seeking a national debate on conversions,'' he said.

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