THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first speech to the BJP parliamentary board after the historic victory in the general elections called upon party leaders to reach out to minority communities.
This was a calculated speech of the Prime Minister aimed at reaching out directly to the minority communities as he knows that in his home state of Gujarat and in his adopted constituency, Varanasi, minority communities-read Muslims- have slowly but surely started voting for the BJP.
It is interesting to note that the party is moving ahead with a report presented by party leader and former Chief Secretary of Kerala C V Anandabose, which was a Kerala-centric one, on the necessity of a social integration council akin to the national integration council.
BJP national secretary in charge of electioneering in Kerala Y Satyakumar is also one of the key members who drafted this proposal which is to be taken up at the right earnest by the BJP national leadership. Kerala Sunni leader Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musaliyar, who is a powerful Muslim leader bestowed with the title ‘Grand Mufti Of India’, is supporting the initiative taken up by the BJP.
Sources in the party told Express that Kanthapuram has already written a letter to the Prime Minister to support the move on social integration council and his proposals for reaching out to the minorities.
Anandabose while speaking to Express said, “The social integration council, if worked out properly, will lead to more acceptability for the BJP and its ideology across the spectrum, which means all the minorities and the marginalised through the country. The council will be constituted at the national, regional and state level comprising religious heads from various denominations.”
The BJP is seriously aiming at increasing its spread across the country by reaching out to the minorities and to gain their confidence. Muktar Abbas Naqvi, who is the Union Minister for Minorities, will be playing a major role in the formation of the Social Integration Council and sources indicated that before the Prime Minister gives a final nod, Naqvi will have to do the onus on excluding and including more valid points from the draft proposal being written by Anandabose. The final constitution of the council will be completed after discussions on the finer points with the Prime Minister and BJP president Amit Shah and senior national leaders of the RSS.
The BJP is actively pursuing this proposal at the national level as the party wants to solve the teething issues, including the Ram Janmabhoomi, through dialogue. The party leadership is of the view that Mathura and Kashi issues which have already risen up will also have to be settled through constructive and positive dialogues and the party believes that the social integration council will be a focal point for this.Anandabose has held a series of dialogue with RSS leadership and had elicited preliminary information from the Kerala state leaders regarding the same. He had discussions with a few national leaders of the Sangh and has met several Church heads also.