Bhopal: Congress to keep mum over religious disputes till polls

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Congress has decided to keep away from any controversial issues to woo Hindu and Muslim voters.

The party has kept mum over an incident in Ganga Jamna School at Damoh, which has allegedly forced the Hindu girls to wear Hijab and change their religion.

According to sources, Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee president Kamal Nath has told the party leaders not to make any statement over the dispute.

Before the Damoh case came to light, the Congress barely made any comments over the arrest of Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) activists and over the incidents of Love Jihad.

Nath has instructed the party leaders to avoid giving any statement on communal incidents.

At a meeting, the Congress leaders said the BJP would make all efforts to provoke the party men to comment on the Damoh incident. But the party leaders should maintain silence over it.

Nevertheless, if necessary, they should make balanced statements. Since the Congress wants to please the Hindus as well as the Muslims, giving controversial statements may enrage one community.

The Congress has been trying to display a pro-Hindu image of Nath, so the party does not want to make Hindus angry. The Congress’s Muslim vote bank is stronger than it was earlier.

Against this backdrop, the party does not want the Hindu voters leave the party.

According to a Congress leader, the party has been clearly told to avoid making statements on religious disputes, especially the ones related to Hindus and Muslims.

According to BJP spokesperson Narendra Saluja, the Congress keeping away from any remark on Damoh incident indicates that the party is doing appeasement politics.

The party is silent even religious conversions, Saluja said, adding that the party, which makes comments on every petty matter, keeps mum whenever there is any action against Jihadis, he said.