3 min readNew DelhiJun 19, 2014 01:26 AM IST
First published on: Jun 19, 2014 at 01:26 AM IST
Mehboob Ali Kaiser
The only Muslim MP in the ruling dispensation, Lok Janashakti Party’s Mehboob Ali Kaiser says Narendra Modi’s government will have to walk the extra mile to convince the community that its interests will be taken care of. He also said that BJP MP Giriraj Singh’s “Pakistan” comment cost the party a large section of Muslim votes this election.
“Why no Muslim got elec-ted from the ruling party is a matter of in-depth study; probably also because they (BJP) gave only seven seats to Muslims. Such statements (by Giriraj Singh) did damage my votes and I suppose Shahnawaz Hussain’s votes (who lost by a thin margin) and pan-India it did have repercussions. People’s (chances) must have got damaged by those comments,” Kaiser, MP from Bihar’s Khagaria, told The Indian Express.
He said it’s a challenge for the Modi government to win the confidence of the Muslim community. “Obviously the onus is on government to take along a community which is disenchanted and lowly represented. Everyone knows a 20-crore strong community cannot be wished away and so he (Modi) has to take them along. The community, too, needs to show confidence in the government and show Modi that they’ve backed him and forget about what happened in Gujarat 12 years ago and move on. This is what I said in my constituency. When he says in Parliament that a body cannot be healthy if any part is ailing, he seriously means it,” he added.
Having been a former state president of Congress who joined the LJP before election, Kaiser is critical of his former party. “Rahul Gandhi is honest and believes in his convictions. But his methods did not work. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Every experiment failed. Everyone in Congress is disenchanted. The American system of primaries does not work here. The sooner they realise it the better for them,” he said. “Rahul mingles with grassroots workers but the lesser beings do not. Who do you talk to? The AICC is full of power brokers. The lesser beings must realise they are not super Rahul Gandhis. But I am no one to advise them,” he added.
Mehboob Ali Kaiser
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