Chandy hails Modi’s line on Muslims

The Kerala Chief Minister said if the PM was sincere in his statement about the Muslim community, "he should put his words into practice."

Keral Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be ready to think realistically beyond politics, referring to the latter's statement that “Indian Muslims will live and die for India." (file photo)

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has welcomed the statement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi praising the Muslim community, maintaining that if Mr. Modi is sincere in his statement, he should put his words to practice.

(The Prime Minister had said that ‘Indian Muslims will live and die for India and will not dance to the tune of terror outfits such as al-Qaeda.’)

“Any body can change at any time. I am not objecting to that. But he should be ready to think realistically beyond politics,” Mr. Chandy said without elaborating on the statement made by Mr. Modi during an interview to CNN scheduled for telecast on Sunday evening.

The Chief Minister was speaking after inaugurating a district-level Congress convention here on Saturday. The statement of Mr. Modi came at a time when other political parties were accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of reverting to hardline Hindutva during the by-polls in Uttar Pradesh.

Mr. Chandy said the BJP had at all times accused the Congress of minority appeasement. But that party should note that the Congress had never insulted any community on religious lines.

Mr. Chandy said the Congress party might have been voted out of power in the Lok Sabha polls. But that did not mean the party was out. It had bounced back after identifying and rectifying its mistakes.

The 100-day Modi government had already got a shocker as the Congress achieved a spectacular victory by capturing seats in the by-polls to the Rajasthan and Gujarat Assemblies, Mr. Chandy said.

A gimmick: Sudheeran

Staff Reporter writes from Wayanad: The Prime Minister’s statement on the Muslim community is a gimmick to win the favour of the community in the Assembly elections scheduled in some States, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president V.M. Sudheeran has said.

Mr. Modi was implementing anti-people policies in the country as a part of executing the Sangh Parivar agenda, Mr. Sudheeran said.

The failure of the BJP in the by-election to Rajasthan and Gujarat Assemblies was a result of the communal polarisation in that party, he said. Wayanad District Congress Committee president K.L. Poulose presided over the function.