PM tells BJP cadres how they should view Muslims

PM tells BJP cadres how they should view Muslims

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday gave a definite pro-poverty shift to his government’s policies and programmes for the next one year, even as he finally addressed the elephant in the room — how his party views or should view India’s largest minority, the Muslims.

In the concluding day address of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s National Council meeting, the PM announced that his government would ratify the climate change agreement on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. “The reason why I have chosen Gandhiji’s birth anniversary is because he led his life with the minimumest of carbon footprint,” Modi said.

The rest of his speech was devoted to the memory of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, the founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the earlier avatar of the BJP. Modi launched the birth centenary celebrations of Upadhyaya, who was elected the Jana Sangh president in this city in December 1967. The city was then known as Calicut. But he died under mysterious circumstances 41 days later.

Invoking Upadhyaya’s call for serving the poorest, Modi said the government at the Centre and in the states would mark the next one year as Garib Kalyan Varsh, the year for the welfare of the downtrodden.Read more