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BJP paid Gujarat Muslims not to vote:
Digvijaya Singh
Saturday December 22, 2012 11:50:39 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi: After
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's hat-trick in the state
assembly elections, Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh
Saturday accused the BJP of paying Rs.500 to each Muslim in the
state to stop them from voting.
"This has been the BJP's strategy for the last 15-20 years. The
BJP cadre and candidates fan out in Muslim-majority constituencies
and enforce a lower voter turnout by buying them off. They
blatantly distribute cash among the Muslim population and take
away their voter ID cards, thus keeping them away from polling
booths," Singh told news channel Headlines Today in an interview.
"If you see the voting pattern in Muslim-dominated areas, the
turnout is never more than 25-30 percent. Voters are bought over
for as less as Rs.500. This is not a wild allegation. I have
evidence and am saying it with full responsibility," said Singh.
According to Singh, the BJP swept 12 of the 19 constituencies in
Gujarat where Muslims are in majority.
He said Modi's apology for the 2002 communal riots in the state in
January had nothing to do with the poll results.
"In some areas, there was polarisation of votes and in most areas,
the BJP unleashed its strategy to gag Muslims by forcing a low
turnout by paying them off. This is BJP's pogrom not only in
Gujarat but all over India. I have proof and there are statistics
to back my claim," said Singh.
Responding to a query if battle lines for 2014 were already being
drawn for a clash between Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi
and Modi, Singh said: "Modi's influence is limited to Gujarat but
Rahul has an overarching appeal across the nation. The two cannot
be compared. Rahul Gandhi will not project himself as the prime
ministerial candidate. Elections will be fought under the
leadership of Sonia Gandhi. If we win, the party's parliamentary
board will decide on the prime ministerial candidate."
"The BJP is stuffed with prime ministerial aspirants who do not
even have a constituency. L.K. Advani contests from Gujarat, Arun
Jaitley and (BJP president) Nitin Gadkari have never fought
elections and Sushma Swaraj is always on the hunt for a safe seat.
Modi is the only leader rooted to the ground. And he's ahead in
the race as the prime ministerial candidate," Singh said.
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