Guwahati, Sep 25 (IANS) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has received votes from members of the Muslim community in the past and asserted that such support is not a new phenomenon in the state.
Speaking to reporters here ahead of the October 6 Nagaon Lok Sabha bypoll, CM Sarma said the BJP had received substantial votes in minority-dominated Assembly seats during earlier elections.
He referred to the party’s performance in Rupohihat and Laharighat Assembly seats, saying BJP candidates had received around 35,000 and 38,000 votes respectively in the two constituencies during this year’s Assembly elections.
“Many Muslims have been voting for the BJP from earlier. There are also nationalist Muslims,” CM Sarma said.
He also rejected the suggestion that the BJP was opposed to any particular religion, saying the party’s political focus was on issues concerning society.
“We (BJP) are not against religion. We talk about issues. We do not do Hindu-Muslim politics,” he said.
Chief Minister Sarma added that issues such as equal rights for women and social development were among the subjects on which his government and the BJP had been speaking.
He said the BJP had received support from sections of the Muslim community in previous elections and claimed that the party was also receiving support during the current political campaign.
The Chief Minister added that people attending BJP meetings in the constituency included members from different communities.
The Nagaon Lok Sabha seat is scheduled to go for a bypoll on October 6 following the resignation of former Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi.
The political contest includes BJP candidate Debashish Sharma, Congress nominee Sibamoni Bora and AIUDF Chief Badruddin Ajmal.
CM Sarma acknowledged that Nagaon had not traditionally been a BJP-held seat, but said the party was seeking to expand its support base there.
He had earlier said that the BJP’s four Assembly seats within the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency performed strongly in the recent Assembly election, while the Opposition had won the remaining four.
The Chief Minister added that the bypoll would therefore be closely watched for the political message it sends ahead of future elections in Assam.
–IANS
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