Date:02/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/02/stories/2008040256101300.htm

National

BJP to make another bid to woo Muslims

Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party will make another effort to woo Muslim votes. The executive committee of the BJP minority cell will be meeting in Hyderabad from April 4 to 6, party leader Shahnawaz Husain told reporters here on Tuesday.

“We will appeal to Muslims to make a new beginning and come to support the BJP under the leadership of [Leader of the Opposition] L.K. Advani,” Mr. Husain said. The appeal will be made in the form of a resolution to be adopted by the conclave.

Mr. Husain was asked whether Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would be one of the invitees. He was non-committal on this. Asked whether Mr. Advani could get Muslim support, considering that in his autobiography ‘My Country: My Life’ he had admitted that when the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, wanted Mr. Modi to resign after the 2002 riots in Gujarat, he stood in the way, Mr. Husain did not respond.

Another leader said the BJP was planning to place before Muslims the Sachar Committee report and ask them which party was responsible for the state in which the Muslims found themselves. For 60 years, the Congress had ruled and not done anything for them. They were lagging behind in education and employment.