BJP doesn't want to run country on basis of religion: Rajnath Singh
Kolkata : Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that the BJP does not want to run the country on the basis of caste or religion, but of humanity and justice.
He made the comment when reporters asked for his view on the claim that the Hindu population in West Bengal was showing a declining graph.
"I normally don't reply to any question on caste, creed and religion. I think our BJP does not want to run the country on the basis of caste, creed and religion. We want to run the country on the basis of humanity and justice," he said. According to him, there was no place for violence in a healthy democracy.
"There is no place for confrontation in a healthy democracy. We need everybody's cooperation to take the nation forward. We need to understand the reality that political clash or political violence can in no way encroach upon the space of good governance and development," Singh said.
On violence allegedly perpetrated against BJP workers, he reiterated that violence had no place in a healthy democracy. Much to the dismay of his party's state unit, Singh didn't utter a word against the Mamata Banerjee government in the state.
He also chose to keep mum on a resolution passed by the RSS in which it accused the TMC of harbouring "jihadi elements". "Being a home minister, I can't comment on many issues publicly," he said. Singh also did not approve of a BJP youth leader's announcement of a bounty on Mamata Banerjee's head, saying this cannot be condoned.
When asked to comment on the law-and-order situation of the state, he merely said, "Law and order is a state subject." Taking note of the rise in the BJP's vote share in West Bengal, Singh expressed confidence that the party would form the next government in the state.
The TMC leadership, however, mocked at Singh's claim by saying that the party was "not aware of ground realities in Bengal and was only daydreaming".
The home minister dodged a direct reply to a question on why the pace of the CBI investigation into the Narada, Saradha and Rose valley scams had slowed down, saying, "Law will take its own course. We are not like other parties who interfere in the CBI investigation."
