Malappuram: NDA Malappuram candidate M Abdul Salam, the only Muslim BJP candidate in the fray, defended the party’s decision to expel BJP’s minority Morcha Bikaner district president Usman Ghani, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent remarks at an election rally in Banswara In Rajasthan last week. Which turned into a controversy.
In an apparent reference to the Muslim community, the Prime Minister claimed that Congress would distribute citizens’ property to “infiltrators” and “those with more children” if voted to power. Speaking to a news channel in New Delhi, Ghani said he was disappointed by Modi’s remarks. He was later fired for his comments against Modi.
Talking to IT partsSalam said Ghani should have maintained party discipline. He added: “Ghani was dismissed because he made statements that should not have been made while he was a member of the party. In any party, leaders must maintain at least a minimum level of discipline. You will have to submit to some party policies, even if you don’t agree with them. “If you cannot accept them, you have to leave the party,” Salam said.
As for Modi’s speech, Salam said it was an attack on the Congress and not on the Muslim community.
He added: “He was attacking the Congress party in the election campaign in Rajasthan, not Muslims. Salam said: “He criticized the conference’s practices, pointing out that public funds are being exploited to entice a certain segment of the people to secure their votes.”
Salam had some unpleasant experiences while campaigning in the Muslim-dominated Malappuram Lok Sabha constituency. Salam said a proper party mechanism could have overcome such anti-BJP sentiments. He said: “The party has a large presence at the national level, but the organizational mechanism that matches the party’s national presence was not effective in the constituency from which I was competing.”
However, Salam said he was confident of strengthening the BJP’s vote share in the Malappuram constituency.