Uttar Pradesh BJP slammed the Congress Party for doing politics of appeasement and took a dig at Priyanka Gandhi after the Congress party decided to distribute its Sankalp Patra or election manifesto outside mosques in UP. BJP’s reaction came after the minority cell of UP Congress decided to distribute its Sankalp Patra among Muslims in front of 8432 mosques in UP on Fridays.
https://twitter.com/BJP4UP/status/1442094604891799553?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwIn a tweet, Uttar Pradesh BJP said, “From protesting against Ram temple to shedding tears for terrorists, Congress has always been doing politics of appeasement. Now Congress has set out on a mission to distribute its Sankalp Patra outside mosques in UP. @priyankagandhi Whose ‘first right’ is on the promises of his election manifesto?”
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee’s (UPCC) minority department has started the process of distributing a 16-point manifesto in front of mosques containing promises to be made to the minorities in the upcoming 2022 UP assembly election.
Some of the important features mentioned in the manifesto include a promise to open tanneries shut down during the Samajwadi Party rule, a judicial investigation into the riots that happened when Akhilesh Yadav was the Chief Minister and also the setting up of Mathur Commission if anyone is found guilty.
UPCC minority department chairman Shahnawaz Alam explained the process saying, “We are distributing this 16-point sankalp patra drawing the attention of people in front of the main mosques in all the assembly constituencies after Friday prayers. We will make the distribution in front of 8432 mosques on four Fridays (September 24 to October 15) to reach out to nearly 2.5 million people. We will distribute the sankalp patras in front of at least six mosques every Friday across the state,”.
Alam also said that a committee headed by former Union minister Salman Khurshid had been constituted to work out the Congress manifesto for the 2022 assembly election. He further added that their department would request the manifesto committee to incorporate some of the points in the party’s election manifesto for 2022 polls as well.
This initiative of distributing manifesto outside mosques by the minority department of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee is consistent with Congress Party’s preferential policy towards the Muslims as highlighted by the former Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh when he had said that Muslims must have the first claim on resources.
During the 52nd meeting of the National Development Council, Manmohan Singh had said “We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably the fruits of development. These must have the first claim on resources,”