Shillong, Nov 4: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today sought to counter criticism over the treatment of religious minorities under the Narendra Modi government, maintaining that the Centre’s welfare programmes reached beneficiaries across communities without any religious discrimination.
BJP North East joint coordinator Rajiv Babbar made the assertion while responding to questions on alleged attacks against Christians and other minority communities in different parts of the country during a press conference here.
The issue carries particular significance in Meghalaya, where Christians constitute a majority of the population and concerns over religious freedom and minority rights often feature in public discourse. These worries have also been explained as the chief reason that the BJP has made scant inroads in the state.
Babbar said the BJP government believed in inclusive development and that its welfare initiatives were meant for all eligible citizens, irrespective of faith.
Defending the Prime Minister’s approach, he referred to Modi’s visits to churches and said the government had clear instructions on maintaining a secular approach.
“Our Prime Minister has visited the church so many times during 12 years and we have very, very clear directions. BJP and the working of Pradhan Mantriji (the Prime Minister) is totally secular,” he said.
Babbar cited the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, claiming that around 12 crore gas connections had been provided to people from different religious and tribal communities. He also mentioned PM-KISAN and other direct benefit transfer programmes, arguing that government assistance was not determined by the religion of beneficiaries.
However, when questioned specifically about alleged atrocities against Christians, the BJP leader turned the focus to the Congress Party’s past record, citing the 1984 anti-Sikh violence in Delhi, in which he referred to 2,734 deaths.
He questioned the Congress’s position on minority protection and constitutional values, arguing that the party should also be held accountable for its past actions. Recalling the Emergency, Babbar said his father, OP Babbar, had spent two years in jail because of his association with the Jana Sangh, a forerunner of the BJP.
He maintained that the BJP stood by the Constitution and wanted people from all communities to be part of India’s development journey towards Viksit Bharat by 2047.
‘SIR will not impinge on genuine Indian citizens’
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today maintained that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls will not take away the voting rights of genuine Indian citizens, asserting that the exercise was aimed at removing duplicate and ineligible names only.
BJP North East joint coordinator Rajiv Babbar said the revision was being carried out by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in exercise of its constitutional mandate and should not be viewed as a political move by the BJP.
Opposition parties and the movement known as the Cockroach Janta Party have linked the ECI and BJP in their supposed aim to disenfranchise minorities and other opponents of the saffron party.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP party office here today, Babbar said there was a need to dispel confusion surrounding the SIR, particularly in Meghalaya, where issues relating to undocumented migration and the protection of indigenous communities have remained sensitive.
He stressed that electoral roll revision and the identification or deportation of foreign nationals were two separate processes, adding that failure to submit an SIR form would not automatically lead to anyone being deported.
“Anybody who is an Indian citizen, first of all, the SIR process has nothing to do with deporting people. It is only a voting right,” he said.
Babbar said the ECI had undertaken similar exercises 12 times in the country, including during Congress Party-led governments, and questioned the opposition’s objections to the ongoing revision.
Accusing the Congress and other INDIA bloc parties of misleading the public, he said the opposition was creating an impression that the exercise was intended to remove genuine voters from electoral rolls.
Citing figures related to the ongoing nationwide revision, Babbar referred to around 13 crore entries that had reportedly been marked for deletion or verification. He claimed these included approximately 2.8 crore deceased voters, 1 crore duplicate entries and 6.3 crore people who had shifted from their registered addresses.
He further said around 3 crore entries required clarification regarding the eligibility of the persons concerned. The BJP leader argued that cleaning up electoral rolls was necessary to ensure that only eligible voters exercised their franchise. He also pointed out that citizens who were eligible but had been left out of the electoral rolls could still seek inclusion by submitting Form 6, even after the SIR exercise.
Babbar said any action against individuals found to be foreign nationals would have to be undertaken separately and strictly in accordance with the established legal process.
