Nagaon (Assam), Apr 25 (PTI) Asserting that attempts to tag the BJP with the anti-Muslim label are “fake propaganda”, the saffron party’s Nagaon candidate Suresh Bora claimed that over 50 per cent of electors from the minority community will vote for him.
The BJP moves ahead taking along all communities, including Muslims, said Bora, who joined the saffron camp from Congress ahead of the elections.
Claiming that “every minority family now wants to join the BJP and they are doing so”, Bora said, “We are welcoming them. More than 50 per cent of minorities will vote for the BJP in Nagaon besides all the Hindus. So, it will be an easy win for us.” He exuded confidence in wresting Nagaon, now a Muslim-majority constituency following the delimitation exercise conducted by the Election Commission last year, from his former party Congress.
About 58 per cent of electors in Nagaon are Muslims, while the remaining 42 per cent belong to Hindu and other communities. Translated into real figures, among the 18.2 lakh voters, over 10.5 lakh are Muslims in the seat where polling will take place in the second phase on April 26.
“Who said BJP is an anti-Muslim party? It is important what top party leaders are saying. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is emphasising on ‘Sabka saath, sabka vikas’. He is saying India will progress along with the 140 crore people of this nation. What is anti-Muslim there?” Bora said while speaking to PTI in an interview here.
He said the notion of the BJP being an anti-Muslim party is a false narrative created by the opposition.
“But now the people, especially the minorities, know that it is fake and the BJP is not going to harm them. The party will win Muslim-majority seats in these Lok Sabha elections.
“There is discipline in the BJP and nothing communal about it. Our party moves ahead taking along Hindus, Muslims and people belonging to other communities,” Bora asserted.
“We held marathon meetings across the constituency. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took part in programmes everywhere and an average of over 30,000 people attended each of those meetings. Such gatherings were also noticed in campaign programmes where other state ministers were present,” he said.
Asked about his winning margin expectation, the BJP candidate said, “All depends on voters. I cannot talk about it but I am trying hard. I believe that Nagaon electors will vote for me and make me victorious.” Bora quit the Congress and joined the BJP around four months ago. He will directly take on incumbent Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi, who is seeking a second term in Lok Sabha.
In the 2019 polls, Bordoloi had won by a margin of 16,752 votes, defeating BJP’s Rupak Sharma.
Bora said, “The BJP had previously won the seat for four terms at a stretch. After the delimitation, the assembly segments under the Nagaon constituency have changed with three new assembly seats getting included.” Bora claimed that the sitting Congress MP was facing “anti-incumbency” on grounds that he was “not available in the area during the COVID-19 pandemic” and because “no one finds him when flood hits Nagaon every year”.
“Earlier there were a lot of issues but after Modi came to power, public grievances were addressed. People want a continuation of welfare schemes, which the BJP will continue after winning the elections,” Bora said, when asked about the issues he was raising with people while seeking their votes.
He, however, agreed that unemployment was still a problem in Nagaon, but maintained that the Assam government has given one lakh jobs since May 2021 and that the chief minister has recently announced 50,000 additional jobs.
“Due to Modi’s work over the last decade and CM’s work in the last three years, especially for the women, public support is growing for BJP,” he asserted.
Bora was with the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and later surrendered.
He was the Nagaon district president of Congress and had unsuccessfully contested assembly polls thrice from Barhampur. PTI TR SMY BDC
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.