BJP has decided to publish the achievements of the Modi government in Urdu
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Lucknow: In a new initiative to reach out to Muslims on the eve of the Assembly elections in Bihar, West Bengal and then Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has decided to publish the achievements of the Modi government in Urdu.
Pamphlets, booklets and even posters will be published in Urdu to dilute the party’s anti-Muslim image and also to reach out to Muslim voters. UP BJP minority cell president Rumana Siddiqui confirmed that Urdu literature about the government’s achievements will soon be made available to the UP BJP office for distribution.
“So far, all party literature used to be published in Hindi, and at times, in English, but now we are publishing in Urdu too so that the Muslim voters can read it themselves and assess the performance of the Modi government,” a party functionary said. The party, however, denies that this is a strategy to woo Muslims ahead of the UP Assembly elections.
“This is not being done for Uttar Pradesh alone. These pamphlets and booklets will be distributed in Muslim- populated areas even in states that are not going to elections in the next two years. The BJP is a national party with a sizeable membership and every citizen in the country should know what the government is doing, irrespective of the fact whether he is our voter or not,” the functionary said.
BJP national vice-president Dinesh Sharma said that the party was against the appeasement of Muslims but was certainly not against the Muslim community. “This is not an exercise to seek votes. Everybody has the right to know about the achievements of the government. Muslims will get the message in a right way if it is given in Urdu,” he said and added that pamphlets highlighting the performance of the Modi government in the past one year may also be published in other regional languages soon.
Another party leader in Lucknow said that the party had received inquiries from Muslims who wanted party literature in Urdu. “That was when we realised that we should publish our material in Urdu so that Muslims can get the information they want,” he said.
The BJP, sources said, was particularly keen to distribute the literature in Urdu in constituencies that are known to be faithful to the Samajwadi Party. The idea is to achieve an image makeover.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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