Congress-RJD using Muslims as vote bank: Kiren Rijiju

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday accused the Congress and its allies of using the Muslim community as a vote bank and said that it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is working to uplift the community.

He said this while speaking to IANS about Muslim participation during the 'Voter Adhikar Yatra', which was taken out by the Congress and RJD to "expose" the alleged irregularities in the Bihar voter list during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who led the yatra, have also accused the Centre of "conspiring" with the ECI and committing "vote theft."

"LoP Rahul Gandhi was born into privilege, and Tejashwi Yadav is also relying on his father's name to secure votes. Together, I don't think they can bring about any real transformation in Bihar. Both are concentrating on appealing to a specific community, which will not help them win the elections," Union Minister Rijiju said.

Appealing to the community, Union Minister Rijiju said, "I am also the Union Minister for Minority Affairs, so I want to appeal to the Muslim voters of the country to understand that Rahul Gandhi and his people have kept Muslims as a vote bank. During this yatra in Bihar, the entire Muslim community was joining, while people from other communities did not."

Rijiju also accused the Congress and RJD of "misleading and enticing the Muslim community" to get them to participate in the yatra.

"I want to tell Muslims that, as I see it from the Minority Affairs Ministry, if Muslims in this country are poor, it is because of the Congress. PM Modi is working to uplift them. Rahul Gandhi's misleading claims are hurting the Muslim community the most. I want to urge the Muslim community not to become the vote bank of the Congress and its allies. They are using the community, and this is not right for them or the country," he added.

When asked if the Congress calls itself a "well-wisher of Muslims", should it declare a Muslim as its chief ministerial candidate in Bihar, Rijiju accused the party of "creating poverty" among the said community.

"They (Congress) say that Muslims have the first right. It is wrong to say that Muslims have the first right over the country's resources. The first right should belong to the poor, those who need it the most. Saying Muslims have the first right is not correct. Moreover, the poverty among Muslims has been created by the Congress itself. They just influence people to garner votes and don't intend to do anything productive for them," he added.

--IANS

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