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I did not say it: PM
By Harish Khare

NEW DELHI, FEB. 21. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, today refuted the reports and the suggestion that the BJP is prepared to spurn the Muslim vote. In a lengthy rejoinder, the Prime Minister took on the Opposition parties which have criticised his reported ``we can do without the Muslim vote'' statement.

Mr. Vajpayee was reported to have told an election rally in Varanasi that the BJP would win without the Muslim votes. In his rejoinder, the Prime Minister reproduced verbatim his remarks. Talking about the appeal made by other parties to Muslims to vote against the BJP, Mr. Vajpayee said, he had observed: ``To urge our Muslim brothers to vote in such a way as to defeat the BJP ... that connotes a very wrong way of thinking. For one thing, the BJP is going to win even if they vote against the party. But my question is: why should they vote against us?''

In his Varanasi remarks, Mr. Vajpayee said, he had further added: ``The way we have governed the country for the past two-and-a-half years is a testimony to the truth that we do not discriminate on the basis of religion. For us, Muslims are not merely Muslims. In our eyes, they are human beings, we look upon them as Bharat mata ki santan (the children of India). Muslims too are fighting for India on the borders.''

Conceding that in the past, some Muslim voters were probably influenced by the Opposition's propaganda against the BJP, the Prime Minister said his Government's performance had set the record straight and has belied the ``alarmist predictions''.

And, invoking his own personal credibility, Mr. Vajpayee asserted that ``never in my long life in politics have I played the communal card to win elections''.

Claiming to have been ``saddened'' by the political parties' reaction, he said, ``far from seeking to divide the people of India, it (the statement) was aimed at fortifying their unity''.

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