After unsuccessfully raising the issue of love jihad in the Uttar Pradesh by-polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party intends to steer clear of it in the campaign for Maharashtra Assembly elections. In fact, party sources say, the party’s strategy is to reach out to Muslims. “We don't want the party to divert from the main issues and give the Congress any chance of blaming us for polarisation, so that they can use Muslims as vote banks,” said a senior leader and poll candidate from Mumbai.
The party’s social media campaign is also likely to stay clear of love jihad . “We will focus on development and corruption,” said Jiten Gajaria, the BJP Maharashtra social media cell president.
Earlier this month, the BJP hosted a minority conclave in which Minority Affairs minister Najma Heptullah, MPs V.K. Singh and national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain addressed a gathering, which included Wakf Board members from across the State.
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The RSS has also been active in wooing Muslims with the programmes of the Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), a platform for Muslim formed in 2002 at the initiative of then RSS sarsangchalak K.S. Sudarshan.