NEW DELHI: A controversy video of state Congress president Kamal Nath which BJP made a major issue and thought it would work against, seemed to have helped the grand old party in uniting the Muslim votes.
BJP thought the viral video would help the saffron party in uniting Hindu votes but it hit back and succeeded in uniting Muslim
The video in the state of Madhya Pradesh purportedly showed Nath asking workers to take out the figures from last elections and do a “postmortem” as to why the polling percentage was only 50-60 percent in the Muslim majority booths.
“Resolve today that you would ensure 80-90 percent polling in your booths. If we don’t get 90 percent votes of the Muslim community, we may suffer a big loss,” Nath, the MP Congress President, is seen telling the workers.
“…You (Muslim Congress workers) will have to take care of your own society, not just for the Congress but for the whole state,” Nath said.
The meeting where the video was shot apparently took place in October.
The saffron party from unknown sources made the old video of Nath viral in November that indirectly benefits the Congress.
The BJP, as part of their election tactics, cornered the Congress over the video, alleging that the latter’s pro-Hindu stance is a facade and that the Congress “divide and rule” via appeasement politics. Party national vice-president Prabhat Jha even took the matter to the Election Commission.
Addressing a press conference, Nath said, “I saw the viral video, what have I said in the video? I told them to maintain communal unity and harmony until the 28th because through the RSS, the BJP will try to confuse and provoke them. I said it in the video and I say it again, the BJP, which is unable to provide any answers, they will make these efforts.”
He further clarified that in the video, he clearly warned the Muslims to “not get confused” and that after the elections, the Congress “will defend everyone”.
“I said we will defend every community, not just Muslims. I said don’t get confused, I say this to everyone. The BJP will do so (confuse and provoke) as part of their election tactics. This video is almost three months old. I was calling for everyone, be it BJP, RSS or anyone else, to maintain communal peace,” Kamal Nath said.