NEW DELHI: Concerned over reports of possible communal polarization after riots in Western Uttar Pradesh, JD (U) today asked its state units to be on guard against similar attempts by “communal elements” ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Party chief Sharad Yadav also demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should convene a meeting of the National Integration Council, saying it is the right time to hold such a meeting given the surcharged atmosphere in UP.
Yadav was speaking after the first meeting of its national office bearers ever since it walked out of NDA on June 16, bringing to an end the 17-year-long BJP-JD (U) alliance over Narendra Modi’s elevation as BJP campaign committee chief.
Deliberating at length over the possibility of attempts to communally polarize elections, he said,
“Attempts could be made to repeat in other states the kind of communal riots that happened in Muzaffarnagar in UP. Since elections are coming, all kinds of forces will be active.
“Those, who have a mindset of doing politics by creating Hindu-Muslim divide, will not leave any stone unturned.
Everybody should be cautious. The Prime Minister should hold a meeting of the National Integration Council. An atmosphere should be created in the country to prevent any communal divide from happening,” Yadav told PTI.
The JD (U) President also said the UP government should take tough action against those, who made “incendiary” speeches fuelling communal tension and held that had the Khap Panchayats reined in, the spread of riots would have been prevented.
A senior JD (U) leader, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the meeting deliberated at length as to “why there was so much delay in controlling the riots initially” and “what role some parties played behind it”.
Leaders also examined various political issues before the country and the role JD (U) has to play in the changed political circumstances besides finalizing its strategy for upcoming state assembly polls in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Asked whether he was apprehensive that BJP could try to polarize polls in all states including Bihar after the rise of Modi, Yadav said, “We have alerted out state units that people will trying to fan communal divide. Who all are into it, is known to everybody.”
To a question about the possibility of BJP naming Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate, Yadav said, “We knew they (the BJP) would be going back to their old agenda. Since we understood it, we parted ways. Theirs and our ways of politics are separate.”
At the same time, he said Modi was not discussed in the party meeting.
Blaming media for overplaying the issue of Modi’s coronation, he said JD (U) is attempting to bring back the nation’s attention to “real issues like price rise, corruption and the government’s wrong policies”.’
He said the party has decided not to contest elections in Arunachal Pradesh and cited fund crunch as a reason.
In Madhya Pradesh, JD (U) had tied with Gondwana Ganatantar Party, while no tie-up is in place till now in other states.
Yadav said that neither the Congress nor the BJP will get majority in the next general elections and parties other than these two will get more seats and will play a key role in formation of the next government.-PTI
