Chennai: BJP’s national president Amit Shah sought to strengthen the party base in the southern states during his visit to Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Mr Shah called upon the people of Tamil Nadu to end dynastic rule and the dominance of Dravidian parties if they wanted the state to prosper and join the national mainstream.
The BJP chief admitted that though the BJP is a national party it is weak in the coastal states. Recalling BJP’s win in Maharashtra and Haryana polls, Mr Shah said, “The regime of Narendra Modi should be there for a long time to come and this could be achieved only by strengthening the BJP in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Bengal and Assam.”
Mr Shah called for a political consensus on the issue of bringing legislation to ban forcible conversion. “BJP is the only party calling for a ban on forcible conversion. Let the so-called secular parties support such a demand,” he said.
On BJP endorsing ‘Ghar Vapasi’ launched by some Hindutva outfits, the BJP chief said the matter was under the consideration of court and it was for the court to take a decision whether the project amounted to forcible conversion or not.
